Sexy Mistake
by Madaboutagirl
Summary: New Chief of Peds, Arizona Robbins is fun, flirty and a total bad ass surgeon. Confident and sexy as hell, she takes Seattle by storm, until she runs smack dab into the one woman who has the potential to rock her world. Prompted by 8.18, begins 5.11. Some cannon. Not my characters, but story is mostly mine. CALZONA eventually!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is missing AZ back story, but Calzona is end game. If you don't want to read about AZ with other women, then skip to Chap. 7 or 8. Then Ch 9 on will provide the missing dates that we didn't get to see. Just having fun with what might have been. **

First days are always fraught with possibilities and the first day at Seattle Grace was no different than any other first day in Arizona Robbins life. Growing up in the military has made her the type of person who thrives on change and who freaks out whenever life gets routine.

That first morning at the coffee cart, she flashes her dimples and crystal blue eyes at every woman that she deems interesting. Arizona loves flirting with new woman and seeing their faces as they realize that she's flirting with them. At Johns Hopkins, this earned her the nickname of 'Kryptonite' as her flirtatious nature seemed to render any straight girl curious after being exposed to her charms.

Her first morning at Seattle Grace she met Nancy Adams, who walked her up to the attendings lounge on the Peds floor, promising to meet her for lunch later in the cafeteria.

At lunch Nancy mentioned that Dr Robbins would have to go to Pikes Place market down by the pier. They made plans for Saturday morning.

By mid-afternoon, Dr Robbins had met Nicole, an occupational therapist, who offered to help her find a place to live. They made plans for drinks Friday night and apartment shopping Saturday afternoon.

* * *

The day after Jordon Kenley dropped dead was Arizona Robbins first day at Seattle Grace. She had been hired to fill the Pediatric Attending position, but during the interview, Dr Weber indicated that she would be first in line for Dr Kenley's Chief position, should he decide to take the retirement package offered to him by the board of directors.

The promotion would make Arizona one of the youngest Chiefs of Pediatric Medicine. And at the age of 31, she was primed for the promotion. She had graduated high school at 17, completed her undergrad program in three years and started medical school before the age of 21, completing a four year pediatric residency and the traditiional five year surgical age 28, when most of her peers were completing residency, Arizona was completing her first Fellowship in Pediatric Surgery and had earned her first attending position.

* * *

Her first page of the day was from Richard Weber, Chief of Surgery, informing her that effective immediately, she was acting Chief of Pediatric Surgery and they would get around to introducing her to her staff sometime during the week, but could she please step in and pick up Dr Kenley's case load in the meantime.

* * *

Confident with the typical arrogance of a surgeon, combined with a charming smile and brilliant blue eyes, Dr Robbins was a force of nature, that few could resist. Until she met Miranda Bailey.

"Good Morning Dr Bailey, I'm Arizona Robbins, I'm taking over Dr Kenley's case load." She said extending her hand to the attending.

"Dr Robbins?" Miranda Bailey asks, surprised by how young the new Chief of Pediatrics is, but she must respect the title.

"Yes?" Arizona replies taking stock in the small dark haired doctor.

"So you will be taking over Dr Kenley's cases? Then I would like to discuss the Jackson Prescott case with you."

"Oh yes and you're assisting on that case. While I admire Dr Kenley, he was a wonderful physician, I am surprised that he followed this course of treatment for so long. You know, considering it wasn't working." Arizona replies.

"It wasn't working?" Dr Bailey responds cautiously.

"Oh, I'm not criticizing, I understand that you were just following his treatment plan."

"Actually, I supported his treatment plan. Are you implying that there was something wrong with that treatment plan?" Bailey asks raising her voice and standing up to face the blonde doctor.

"Dr Bailey, Jack's case is quite severe." The blonde begins to explain.

"Jackson, the patient's name is Jack-son. And if you are implying that we were torturing this child with useless procedures..." Bailey corrects her and then proceeds to get on a rant.

"Dr Bailey. Many senior Pediatric Surgeons follow this type of treatment plan and we don't have to change it right away, but I expect what we're going to realize is that this patient needs to be on the transplant list. Look, I'm taking over all of Dr Kenley's patients and he had quite the case load, so let's revisit this tomorrow morning, okay?" The blonde says smiling. Then nodding to her, Arizona turns to leave. A short distance from the nurse's station, she begins skating down the hall.

"What the...?" Dr Bailey mutters watching the crazy blonde skating down the Peds hallway.

* * *

The next morning the nurses are all a buzz over the exciting young pediatric surgeon replacing Dr Kenley as head of Pediatrics. The interns are amazed that someone just a few years older than they are, has already achieved a Chief position. "Who is she Doogie Howser?" Cristina Yang asks sarcastically.

"Listen, we should be happy for her." Meredith exclaims, this makes us look good. If she can do it, then we can do it. Right?"

* * *

"Congratulations, Dr Robbins. I understand you're the new Chief of Pediatrics." Nicole says cornering the doctor in the attendings lounge. "I really hope you'll let me take you out to dinner to celebrate? She purrs, leaning in close to the blonde's ear.

"What do you have in mind Nicole?" The blonde flashes a beautiful smile at the OT.

"Let me pick you up tonight at 7 and you'll find out." Nicole says seductively. "You're staying at the Archfield, across the street?" She asks.

"Yes, I am. 7 pm, sounds perfect. I'll be waiting." The blonde says licking her lips and leaning in close, before turning abruptly to leave.

Nicole sighs, she was so close to kissing those soft pink lips.

* * *

"I understand that congratulations are in order Dr Robbins." Nancy Adams says, having deviated from her usual schedule to seek out the blonde doctor. "I know we have plans for Saturday, but I'd love to buy you drink tonight to celebrate your promotion. Can you meet me at Joe's around 6 pm?" She asks. Still surprised by her own assertiveness, she's not usually one to pursue other women, but there's something about Arizona Robbins, that makes her want to be near her.

"That's so sweet of you Nancy. I'd love that. But it will have to be just one drink. I have a busy schedule this week." Arizona informs her. Nancy isn't her usual type, but being new to the hospital, Arizona just decides to go with it. Now Nicole, she's definitely Arizona's type. Not that the blonde really has a type. She's not one for relationships or commitments. Not since med school, when she fell hard for a woman and had a long complicated relationship, that took her a long time to get over. Arizona determined not to repeat her mistake, began to pursue any woman who interested her and move on before things got serious. Promising nothing up front, she still managed to break a few hearts. But quickly gained a reputation as a fun fling, which was fine with her.

* * *

Arizona managed to get done with work in time to freshen up at her hotel, then meet Nancy for a drink at Joe's across from her hotel, but as she left Joe's, Arizona ran into two women on the sidewalk. One was medium build with short curly brown hair, the blonde couldn't help flashing a flirty smile at her, hoping to see her again, when she had more time.

Her evening with Nicole was great. The OT took her to a small cafe a few blocks from the waterfront, then to a small lesbian bar with an awesome DJ. A few drinks in and their bodies are tangled up on the dance floor, sweating and out of breath, they find their way to a booth and sit down. Nicole motions to the server to bring them another round and tab them out. As the drinks arrive and she quickly pays the tab, she turns to the blonde and whispers in her ear. Blushing Arizona carefully looks at her watch and nods.

In the cab on the way back to the hotel, Nicole can barely control her excitement of being this close to the attractive blonde. To her surprise, Arizona pays for the cab and steps out, turning to help her out.

"Nicole, this was an awesome evening. Thank you so much." Arizona says pulling her in for tight embrace.

"Its still early Arizona..." She says breathlessly in to the blonde's hair.

"In so many ways," the blonde counters back, nibbling on her ear. "But I have an early day tomorrow."

Disappointed, the brunette pulls away flashing the blonde her sad face and soulful puppy dog eyes.

"No, no. Don't do that." Arizona says laughing. "Nicole, you understand. I just got here. I can't jump into bed with the first girl I go out with. I don't want to be that person."

"But Arizona, I thought we had fun together." She begins.

"Oh we did have fun together. And trust me, we'll continue to have fun. But we just need to take it easy, okay?" The blonde asks, flashing her dimples and kissing her before turning to leave.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" Nicole can't help but ask.

"I have two surgeries tomorrow, but we have plans on Saturday, right?" The blonde reminds her, before giving her a flirty little wave and slipping into the hotel lobby.

* * *

The next morning Arizona stops at the coffee cart outside the hospital and sees the brown curly haired woman from the night before. She flashes her a smile and licks her lips, before sticking out her hand. "Hey, I'm Arizona Robbins didn't I see you last night in front of Joe's?" She asks her.

"Colleen Kennedy," the brown haired woman replies, taking her hand. "You're the new Chief of Peds?" She asks.

"I am." Arizona says, slowly pulling her hand back and waving as she leaves.

Walking into the hospital's main lobby, the blonde marvels at the women of Seattle, this is going to be fun, she thinks.

At the elevator, she gets in beside two other doctors, obviously close friends or something. The woman is gorgeous, beautiful black hair and curves for days. But because she's behind them, she can't see the name on her lab coat. Just as well, because she's obviously involved with the guy, who's quite attractive with a soothing voice. They get out on the 3rd floor, Arizona notes that its Ortho and the general surgery floor.


	2. Chapter 2

Her first procedure is the bowel resection on Jackson Prescott. She's in the OR with Alex Karev and Miranda Bailey.

Staring into the body cavity, Arizona says, "Damn. Look at this, there's maybe 10 centimeters of bowel left after we resect this and the necrotic tissue is invading his liver and right kidney."

"Wait what if we do a-a Bianci procedure to save more of it?" Bailey asks.

"Dr Bailey this patient should have been on the transplant list a year ago." Arizona says. "It it's a miracle he's even alive." She adds sadly.

* * *

"Dr Weber?" Miranda Bailey pounds on the door. "Dr Weber, please I need to talk with you about the new Chief of Peds." she says bursting into the room. "Why would you replace Dr Kenley with an infant? An infant who rolls around this hospital on rollerskates. What were you thinking?"

"Dr Bailey, you didn't like Shepherd, you called him a haircut. You didn't like Hahn, and you've referred to Dr Sloan as a hussy. Can you name one attending that you do like?" He counters.

"This is a very serious case, Dr Weber. Robbins is completely changing treatment protocol for my patient and we just removed most of his bowel, he's going to die on the transplant list!" She yells.

"Miranda, like you Dr Robbins was top in her class, like you she was Chief Resident, and she's the best anyone has ever seen, like you. So I suggest you deal with it. She is who we have and she is good."

Throwing up her hands, Bailey leaves the room.

Sighing, Weber adjusts his position in the recliner and closes his eyes. Jordon Kenley and I are the same age, he thinks.

* * *

In the cafeteria, Arizona again glimpses the raven haired Latina doctor, but this time she is sitting at a table full of residents. And another guy is leaning over her talking closely. Well, she's obviously quite straight, the blonde tells herself. Then turning around to look for a spot to sit to eat her lunch she spies Colleen from this morning and she's about to sit at a table by herself.

Stepping over to the table, Arizona smiles and says, "Hello again, is this seat taken?"

Looking up Colleen smiles, "No, it's not Dr Robbins. Join me."

Taking a bite of her salad, the blonde looks carefully at her and then asks, "So tell me Colleen, what do you do here at Seattle Grace?"

"I'm a surgical nurse in Ortho." She replies biting her lip.

"How long have you been a surgical nurse?" Arizona asks, reaching over and stealing a french fry off her plate and winking at her.

"Um, well almost five years." She replies, unable to take her eyes off the attentive blonde across the table from her.

"Have you always been in Ortho?" Arizona asks intrigued, maybe she knows the story on the Latina doctor.

"No, when Dr Torres, took over the Ortho department, she asked me to change specialties, since I had worked with her when she was a resident. It's been great, she's an awesome surgeon." Colleen says nervously.

"What about you Dr Robbins? What's your story?" She asks watching the blonde pick at her salad.

"Ah, I just finished a pediatric fellowship at Johns Hopkins and couldn't pass up this opportunity in Seattle" She replies flashing a smile that reflects in her bright blue eyes.

Mesmerized by the blonde's infectious charm, Colleen doesn't even notice Dr Torres approaching the table. "Colleen, are you ready? We have surgery in 15 minutes." The doctor says not even noticing the woman at the nurse's table.

"Who was that?" Arizona asks leaning across the table.

"Uh, that's Dr Torres. I better get going." Colleen says pushing her tray to the edge of the table.

"Well Colleen, any chance I could have your number in case I have some questions about the surgical nursing staff? I really need to pick my team and I bet you know a lot since you've worked here so long." The blonde says moving her hand over on top of the nurse's to get her to stay seated.

"Oh, I'd love to help Dr Robbins", she says pulling a pen out and writing her number down quickly. "Call me for anything." She says standing up to leave.

"Thank you so much Colleen. I will keep that in mind." The blonde says standing up, "Let me take your tray, you shouldn't keep Dr Torres waiting."

Smiling easily at the blonde, "You're so sweet. Thank you." She says biting her lip again.

* * *

Mark Sloan has noticed the new blonde doctor and he's been watching her work her charms on three women so far. He sidles up to her at the elevator.

"Hey there," he says turning to greet her in his sultry voice, "I don't believe we've met, I'm Dr Mark Sloan, Plastics."

"Oh hey Dr Sloan, Arizona Robbins, Peds." She says shaking his hand and taking another sip of her soda, pausing to chew on the straw.

"Peds?" He says stroking his chin as they board the elevator, "Oh right, new Chief of Peds. Very impressive Dr Robbins", he says looking at her hands to see if she's single.

"Barking up the wrong tree there pal." Arizona says leaning over towards him.

"Just checking. I, uh, think I'm a fan though. I've been trying to get Colleen's phone number for almost a year and I believe that you got it, in what 15 minutes?" He says smiling at her.

"Technically, 30 min. But yeah, Sloan, I have no problems getting phone numbers. If you need some help, we could hang out some time." She says sarcastically.

"Oh, we should totally hang out Robbins. Imagine!" He says looking at the smaller woman and raising his eyebrows.

"Uh no. I don't need a wingman, especially one who's a man." She says laughing at him as the elevator doors open for her floor.

* * *

"Dr Bailey did you or did you not put Jackson Prescott on the transplant list?" Arizona asks her.

Hesitating, Bailey tries to buy some time, but Arizona sees right through her. "You want a second opinion Dr Bailey? I get that." Taking out her pen she writes down a name and number," Here call Norman McCale at Hopkins, he's head of Pediatric Surgery at Hopkins and tell him I referred you. And about two minutes into your review of this case when he tells you to put the patient on the transplant list, and he will, maybe you will quit wasting time this patient doesn't have and put him on the damn list!" The blonde says slamming shut the chart.

"There's no need to snap at me, Dr Robbins." Bailey tries to calm her down.

"There is actually. Because you've been second guessing me since I got here, we've lost two days not having this patient on the transplant list, two days that Jackson Prescott doesn't have to waste. Now I suggest you stop focusing on the fact that I have a pony tail and am not Dr Kenley and start focusing on what your patient needs. He needs to be on the transplant list and if we keep wasting time, he's not going to make it."

* * *

Leaving the hospital that evening, Colleen approaches Arizona as she crosses the lobby. "Um Dr Robbins?"

"Oh hey Colleen, how was the rest of your day?" The blonde asks flashing a smile.

"It was good, listen I was heading over to Joe's for a drink, would you like to join me?" The nurse asks.

"I will Colleen, but on one condition." Arizona says leaning in close to her ear. "You call me Arizona outside of the hospital?"

Her smile lights up her light green eyes and Arizona suddenly finds herself looking forward to getting to know the nurse better.

"Okay, so I still haven't met many of the attendings Colleen, what do I need to know about them?" Arizona asks sliding in beside her with fresh drinks.

"Hmm, Dr Shepherd is neuro and he's engaged to Meredith Grey, who's a surgical intern. Dr Sloan is his best friend and..."

Cutting her off with a wave of her hand Arizona says, "Oh I've met Sloan." She takes a drink and sets it back down.

"Dr Sloan and Dr Torres used to be a thing, but then she dated Dr Hahn in Cardio and they broke up and Dr Hahn, she just left and no one really knows what that was about. But Dr Torres took it really hard." Colleen explains.

"Interesting, so have you and Dr Torres ever..." Arizona raises her eyebrows and winks at the nurse.

"Oh no, I would never. Besides, I'm not her type. I don't even think she knows that I date women. Isn't that weird. I've worked with her for over five years and know about everything there is to know about her, but she knows nothing about me." Colleen says looking over to Arizona.

Moving her hand closer to the other woman's Arizona lightly runs her finger along the nurse's arm as she talks. "Well, that's easy to understand Colleen, when you are in surgery, you're focused on the patient and don't really have time for conversation, do you?"

"Not really, no." Colleen says breathlessly.

Feeling the other woman's chest heave beside her, Arizona turns her head slightly and presses her lips against Colleen's, kissing her ever so lightly. Pulling away, she runs her tongue along the other woman's bottom lip and then hums.

"Hmmm, that was really nice. Colleen, we should go out sometime." Arizona says softly.

"Yes, I'd like that." The woman nods, still a bit hypnotized by the blonde's sensual kiss.

"I'm going to go now, I've got an early day tomorrow, but can I text you when I figure out my schedule?" Arizona asks her.

Nodding again, the blonde leans in and caresses her face before finishing her drink and heading out the door.

* * *

Walking back to her hotel, Arizona feels her phone vibrate in her pocket. Waiting until she gets to the hotel lobby and presses the call button for the elevator, she pulls her phone out and looks at the message.

"I'm hella impressed there blondie. I think I just learned a few new moves."

Good god, she thinks, 'how the hell did Mark Sloan get my phone number!'


	3. Chapter 3

"You paged Peds?" Arizona asks entering the pit for the first time the next morning.

Looking up Owen Hunt calls her over, "Yeah, Robbins here Trauma room 4."

Walking into the trauma room, Arizona sees two interns, one is a blonde female and the other is a guy. She hasn't met either of them yet.

"What do we have?" she asks entering the room.

"Unresponsive seven year old male, thrown from a horse into a fence." Izzie replies.

"Lacerations on his back, he was wearing a helmet, but pupils are showing signs of Vitreous hemorrhage." George adds.

"Okay." Arizona says moving around the patient to the left side, she touches his abdomen and the child cries out.

"Let's get him up to CT, I think we have a ruptured spleen here." Then turning back to the interns, she says,

"you".

"I'm George O'Malley." He says quickly.

"Izzy Stevens." The blonde adds.

"Dr. O'Malley, get this patient up to CT and if you have to wait, see if you can get an x-ray as well." She says to him, pushing the bed out of the room.

Then turning to the blonde she says, "Steven's you're with me. Get us an OR and meet me up there, you're scrubbing in."

George looks back wanting to ask if he can scrub in too, but not knowing the blonde he doesn't ask.

"O'Malley?" Arizona calls to him as he gets ready to load the patient in the elevator. "Meet us in the scrub room with these scans." She tells him. "You're scrubbing in as well."

* * *

Walking past CT, Alex sees George there with a kid on his gurney. "What's this, a peds case?" Alex asks.

"Yes, I caught it in the Pit this morning." George says defensively.

"Well, it's mine now. I had to finish rounds for Robbins, when she got paged to the Pit." Alex decides.

"No chance Karev. She's already told me that I'm scrubbing in, so back off." George says as the CT tech finally comes out to get the patient.

Standing with George as the CT tech does the scan, Alex says. "Damn, a splenectomy. I can't believe that I'm missing out on this because of you."

"It's not my fault Karev." George replies. "Now go get your own damn patient!"

* * *

"Hey Dr Robbins." Nicole says approaching the blonde as she charts in the nurses' station. "How is your day going?

Looking up, Arizona glances at the petite OT and asks, "What brings you up to Peds today, Nicole?"

"I was just wondering if you had time for lunch?" She asks, leaning in close to the doctor.

Looking up now, Arizona is eye level with a surprisingly nice view of the OT's ample cleavage. Biting her lip, she then replies, "As much as I would enjoy having lunch with you today, I'm afraid that I am not available. But we are still on for lunch on Saturday." Arizona says still charting.

"Yes, yes we are. I'm looking forward to it." Nicole says. Then realizing that she no longer has the doctor's attention, she backs away.

"That one too?" Sloan says walking up to the desk. "Hey blondie, ready for lunch?"

"Just one moment." She says closing the chart. Then standing up she reaches for his ear and twists it, "Now stop calling me Blondie!" She says before walking off.

"Jesus, what are we ten years old? That hurt Robbins!" He says grimacing and rubbing his ear.

"Well, maybe you'll associate that pain, with that name." She replies satisfied with herself. "Coming to lunch? You're buying," she says pushing the call button.

"Wait, why am I buying?" He asks stepping in to the elevator.

"I may be a lesbian, but when a guy asks you to lunch, he still pays." She replies.

* * *

"I see you've met Dr Sloan." Dr Weber says as they enter the cafeteria. "I'm sorry that I haven't had a chance to introduce you properly to the other attendings and department heads, but we do have a meeting next Tuesday." Weber explains.

"Don't worry Chief, I'll see what I can do to help." Sloan replies.

"Okay, so what do I need to know Sloan? Spill it!" The blonde says once they are seated at a table.

"I can't believe you got a salad and a hamburger and fries and a milkshake. Women don't eat like this. Normal women don't eat like this." He says shaking his head and grabbing a fry.

"Whatever, I have barely had two meals in the last two days, so I'm eating all this. Now leave my fries alone. Go get your own." She says stabbing at his hand with her fork.

Ignoring her, he gestures and says "Over there two o'clock is Derek Shepherd and Meredith Grey. He's my friend, she's his fiance."

"The four over there are the 2nd year residents, that table over there 3rd years and well you've probably met most of the 4th years by now. O'Malley, Stevens, Karev, Grey and Yang."

"Yeah, I've met them all but Grey and Yang." She replies.

"Yang is cardio. She's intense, hardcore. Dating Hunt, I think. It makes no sense, but there it is." He adds.

"And Sloan, who's your flavor of the month?" The blonde asks looking around the room.

"Robbins, you wound me." He says, glancing over at Lexie.

"A second year resident? Are you kidding me Sloan." She says following his eyes to the young redhead.

"Oh it's worse than that, she's Grey's little sister. And I've been forbidden to date her." He says raising his eyebrows. "Can you believe that?"

"Yes, I can believe that, but she's an infant Mark. Are you insane?" Arizona can't help but slap him on the back of the head.

"Hey, we're not at the you can slap me on the head place yet, blond- Arizona." He says leaning back in his chair. Then noticing that Lexie is on her way over, he glares at her, "Be cool." He whispers sharply.

"Hey Dr Sloan," Lexie says stopping in front of him. Then turning to the blonde, she sticks out her hand, "I'm Lexie Grey, you must be the new Peds attending?" She says smiling.

"Hello, Dr Grey. Yes, I'm Arizona Robbins. Very nice to meet you." The blonde says turning back to her lunch ignoring their attempt at a private conversation right in front of her.

"Well, Dr Sloan remember if you need anything, anything at all just page me." The young redhead says turning to leave. Then pausing to look over her shoulder to make sure he's watching her leave.

Watching them both, the blonde can't resist telling him, "Ha! You're screwed Sloan. You've got it bad."

* * *

"Dr Robbins, I'm Cristina Yang." The Asian woman says holding out her hand to the blonde doctor standing at the nurses' station reviewing a chart.

"Nice to meet you Dr Yang." Arizona says shaking her hand. "What can I do for you?"

"You have a ten year old patient with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and I want in on it." She says directly.

"It's already assigned to a surgical intern Dr Yang, but thank you for offering your services." The blonde replies, looking back down at the chart.

"Excuse me for saying so Dr Robbins, but Dr Stevens is not as experienced in Cardio as I am. In fact, I've not only assisted with this procedure before, but I've assisted on this procedure twice on children." Yang replies. "And I've already reviewed the chart and I can think of multiple complications that may arise on this case. Trust me Dr Robbins, you want me in that OR with you, not Izzy Stevens."

"I'll take that under advisement Dr Yang. Thank you." The blonde says looking up from her chart. Good lord, that girl is as full of herself as I was during my fourth year, she thinks to herself.

"Is that all Dr Yang?" Arizona asks, returning to her chart.

"Yes." Cristina replies and walks off confused. Damn, I need to get on this case.

* * *

Heading down to the Pit, Cristina hopes to find Meredith, maybe she has something that they can give to Izzy so she will give up the peds case.

"You don't understand Mer, I haven't touched a heart all week. It's Thursday and I have to put my hands in someone's chest soon!" She says as they walk down the hall.

"Well, let's check with Derek. Maybe he has something, Izzy likes neuro." Meredith says hopefully.

* * *

Standing in front of the surgical board, Yang has practically memorized it. "What if..." she begins, "no that won't work."

Then Dr Weber walks up and begins writing down another procedure. "Sir, if I might say, Dr Stevens was just talking about that procedure and I'll bet that she'd love to scrub in on it with you. Well, if you don't already have an intern assisting you." Yang says carefully.

"That's very helpful Yang, but Dr Stevens already has a surgery tomorrow morning." Weber says looking at the board.

"Right, but I was just reviewing that case with Dr Robbins and she's a little concerned that Stevens doesn't have the experience for her procedure and since I'm available, I'm sure she'll be updating the board any moment." Yang adds.

"Well, when she does, you can switch, but for now Yang, why don't you join me for this fistula." Weber replies, writing her name on the board.

"Thank you sir." She says turning to leave. I've got to find Stevens, there's no way I'm spending my morning on a fistula! she thinks.

"Hey there Dr Stevens." Yang says entering the lounge and grabbing an apple out of the fridge.

"What's up Cristina?" Izzy knows that Cristina is up to something when she calls her Dr Stevens.

"I was just talking with Dr Weber and he was disappointed that you weren't available to assist him tomorrow morning, he has a very unusual fistula case and it sounds like he really wants you on it. He reluctantly agreed to let me assist, but I promised him that I'd offer to trade surgeries with you. So how about it. Do you want to assist the Chief of Surgery or Rollergirl tomorrow morning?" Yang asks taking a big bite out of the apple.

"Weber asked for me?" Izzy says surprised. "Well, I did rock that last fistula surgery with Bailey. So yeah, that makes sense." She talks herself into it.

"He's still down there at the surgical station, just let him know and he'll switch it." Cristina says helpfully.

* * *

Later at Joe's Cristina and Meredith are getting ready to do another tequila shot when Yang sees Dr Robbins enter the bar and those blue eyes lock on to her. "Shit." Cristina says hiding the shot.

"Yang, I see that you've been assigned to my service tomorrow morning by Chief Weber. I hope that you're not planning on drinking tequila all night, we have surgery at 7 am tomorrow and you better be sharp." The blonde says reaching around her for the shot and taking it and setting the empty glass down on the bar. "Very sharp." She says turning around to leave.

"Holy shit." Meredith says, "Who was that?"

"That's Robbins, the new head of peds." Cristiana replies.

"That's rollergirl? I've seen her with Mark a lot lately, but I heard that she's a lesbian." Meredith comments.

"Oh, that's good Mer, what else have you heard about her?" Cristina asks, signaling to Joe to set them up again.

* * *

Walking back outside, Arizona runs into Noel, whom she just met a few hours earlier. "Noel, we meet again." Arizona says softly backing her up against the building. Reaching up to touch her long brunette hair, the blonde purrs, "Join me for a glass of wine?"

"I'm meeting friends." Noel says looking towards the door to Joe's.

"I only have time for one glass, I have an early surgery. Just join me over here." Arizona says gesturing to the Archfield.

"Okay, I guess my friends won't even notice if I'm a little late." Noel says, enjoying the blonde's attention. She's never really had a woman flirt like this with her and its kind of hot.

The blonde takes her hand and leads her across the street. Gently rubbing her arm as they walk. Asking her questions about herself and attentively listening to the answers.

Sitting down at the bar, it becomes apparent that the doctor has more than a glass of wine on her mind. As she continues to be extremely attentive to the dark haired woman. Commenting on her hands and glasses. Noel can think of nothing more than kissing those soft pink lips, in fact she can't stop staring at them.

Finally Arizona leans in and kisses her softly.

Noel gasps. Then reaches up and sinks her hands into those luscious blonde curls and deepens the kiss.

"Whoa, don't go starting a fire, that you can't put out." Arizona says pulling back from her.

"Who says, I can't put it out?" Noel challenges. Then leans forward and slips her hand under the blonde's short skirt and caresses her cheek, slipping a finger under the edge of the blonde's panties.

Signaling for the check, Arizona stands up, quickly signs the tab, grabs her purse in one hand and Noel's hand in the other. Looking at her with dark blue eyes full of desire, the blonde pulls her hand and Noel follows.

As soon as the elevator doors close, Noel pins the blonde to the wall and kisses her hard.

The doors open and Arizona pauses to get her room key out and then pulls Noel behind her. As soon as the door closes, they are ripping at each other's clothes as they make their way to the bed.

The blonde is surprised because she had Noel pegged as curious, not experienced, but her aggressiveness would definitely indicate otherwise.

Being taller, Noel easily over powers the blonde and pins her to the bed, teasing her nipples with her tongue, she places her thigh right up against Arizona's hot wet center.

"I don't think so," Arizona says quickly flipping her over and reaching down to remove her panties in one swift move. Breathing hot wet kisses down the lithe body of her lover, Arizona gently teases her and slips two fingers into as she explores her wetness. "You've been thinking about this quite a bit, I think." The blonde says playfully.

"Ever since you stopped me out side of Joe's" Noel moans, arching her back into the blonde's teasing touch.

"Really? I've been thinking about this since I met you this afternoon." Arizona confides. "I wanted to know what that dress would look like on the floor of my room." She says glancing over to their pile of clothing. "It looks almost as amazing as you look naked in my bed."

"Oh, god." Noel whispers raggedly. "Please, faster." She begs.

Moving her leg so that she can better support her hand, the blonde speeds up her tempo, until the brunette beneath her bucks and then cries out.

Almost climaxing herself, Arizona carefully pulls out her hand and lays beside her waiting for her to recover.

To the blonde's surprise, Noel, recovers quickly and smoothly she moves on top of her and slips her small fingers into Arizona's wetness and easily gets her near climax. "Oh, wow, that feels amazing." The blonde says, trying to delay the inevitable for as long as possible.

"More is good," Arizona says as the brunette adds a third finger and then a fourth. "Oh, oh, that's perfect, the blonde says, arching her back.

"Are you holding back on me, Arizona?" Noel taunts her, as she bends down to suck on her nipple, applying just a little too much pressure with her teeth, until suddenly the blonde cries out. So the brunette, licks her nipple and blows on it. Making her tremble beneath her again.

"Oh many times can you do that doctor?" Noel asks seductively.

"Unfortunately, you won't find out tonight." Arizona says catching her breath. "I really do have an early surgery."

"Too bad, just when we were getting to the fun part." The brunette says playfully.

Sitting up and reaching over to pull her in for another kiss, the blonde pulls her to her and Noel has no choice but to straddle the blonde's lap. Which was just want Arizona wanted her to do, now the blonde reaches down and easily inserts her fingers into the very wet center of the brunette.

"Hey, I thought we were through." She rasps out.

"I'm not done with you yet Noel." Arizona whispers thickly.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Part of this chapter is from different episodes of S5, I'm not following the story arcs closely. I'm trying to create back story for those episodes, so by referencing them, I'm helping you follow the timeline. Hope it doesn't bother you, I just use what I think works for what I'm trying to do. The writers for the show have some awesome dialogue and the Callie/AZ scene in the bathroom, was epic. **

"Dr Yang, you're here early. Excellent." Robbins says, entering the scrub room. "I trust that you have reviewed the surgical plan, do you have any questions?"

"I have." Yang replies, stepping back from the scrub sink, she asks. "Dr Robbins may I speak freely?"

"Of course, Dr Yang." The blonde replies looking up from scrubbing her hands.

"You've chosen a cardiac catheterization ablation over installing a pacemaker. This is a bold choice and one not many doctors here would make. And you have elected to do it yourself instead of referring the patient to Dr Dixon in Cardio, which indicates to me that you have experience with this procedure, how many of these have you done?" Yang asks.

"I've done two, assisted on more than ten." Robbins says stepping back from the sink. "If you're done, let's get in there."

Walking into the OR, Arizona gets into position and nods to the tech to turn on the music. "I Kissed a Girl" begins and Cristina looks over at the blonde and shakes her head, they both start bouncing a bit to the music as they begin the surgery.

* * *

"Good job in there Yang, now follow him to Post-op and I'll meet you up there." Robbins says tearing off her gown and mask.

As Yang turns to leave, Meredith steps into the room. "How did the surgery go?"

"She listens to Katy Perry in her OR. She's perky and wears pink on purpose. Her scrub cap had like butterflies on it or something, but she's a total bad ass, Mer." Yang says in awe of the young Peds Chief.

"Well, I'm glad it was worth it, because Izzy is pissed. You should probably hide today." Meredith says as she steps out of the scrub room and looks up and down the hall before nodding to Cristina to follow her.

* * *

Up in post op, Arizona is standing face to face with Izzy and Alex. "Doctors, peds in not general surgery in miniature, these are tiny humans, complex tiny humans who survive worse and recover faster." Arizona says lecturing them, then turning to see Yang approach, she adds. "Don't let the roller skates fool you, Peds is hardcore!"

"You told her that I called her roller girl?" Yang says slapping the back of Alex's head.

"Ow! It slipped out and she heard it." He replies glaring at her.

Then looking over at Izzy, Yang realizes that she's pissed at her.

"You suck Cristina, I just spent the morning with Weber listening to his fistula speech again. There was nothing new or interesting about that surgery, I can't believe that I fell for that." Izzy says storming off.

* * *

In the cafeteria, Arizona is waiting for a smoothie. Her plan is to drink it and grab a nap before her next procedure. Last night's activities, while taking the edge off for this morning have definitely left her a bit drained. Who would have guessed that the hot nerdy girl would be such a great time in bed? She thinks to herself smiling.

"Penny for you thoughts, Robbins." Mark Sloan says sidling up to her, then whispering, "Unless they're dirty, then I'll pay top dollar."

"Ew! No, Sloan. This is not a thing." She says taking her smoothie. "We are not comparing notes." She says walking away from him and shaking her head.

Making her way up to the Peds office, where she plans to nap on the couch, Arizona is surprised to see Izzy Stevens waiting for her. "May I have a word Dr Robbins?" She asks.

"Make it quick, I have exactly one hour and I plan to spend most of it preparing for my next surgery." She says entering the office.

"I just want you to know that I was tricked into giving up that surgery..." Stevens tries to explain.

"You were out sharked. Buck up Stevens, in surgery you're either a shark or you're chum. It's up to you." Robbins says laying down on her couch. "Now shut the door behind you."

* * *

"She called me chum, Alex!" Izzy is in the cafeteria venting to her boyfriend.

"I can't believe that you fell for anything that came out of Yang's pie hole. Yang is about one thing, Iz and that's Yang."

"Damn it! Okay, well now I'm stuck on Weber's surgery the rest of the day." She says pouting.

"Well, let's go to the pit, maybe we can catch an accident victim or something." He says standing up.

* * *

Waking to the sound of her pager, Arizona takes a moment to get her bearings. Then looking at the pager, she sighs and gets up. Putting her shoes back on, she grabs her stethoscope and heads out the door running down the hall.

"What do we have?" She asks catching her breath as she enters the trauma room.

"11 year old male, hit by a car, broken femur and dislocated hip." Karev says looking up at the blonde.

Taking the chart, Arizona reviews it quickly. "Okay page Ortho and let them handle, it. I've got surgery scheduled in 15 minutes. Stay on this case and keep me posted." The blonde says turning to leave.

"Where's Peds?" Callie asks entering the trauma room a few minutes later.

"Robbins had to head into surgery, she told me to work with you on this one." Karev explains.

"Hmm," Callie says looking over the chart. "It looks like it's just you and me then. Let's get him up to the OR." She says closing the chart.

* * *

In the scrub room with Karev, Callie can't believe that she's hearing "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry blaring out of the OR next door.

"Are you kidding me? Who would play that in the OR?" She asks shaking her head.

"That's Robbins, Yang says she has a whole playlist of that crap." He says laughing.

"Well, I wouldn't call it crap, but I wouldn't play it in the OR." Callie replies. "Wait, Yang was in surgery with her today?"

"Yeah, Yang tricked Izzy into swapping surgeries so she could get in on a HCM this morning." Alex explains.

"Wait, are you saying the new Peds doc performed an HCM this morning, with just a cardio resident?" The Latina asks, unable to hide her surprise. "Lucky for her Hahn is gone, Erica never would have allowed that."

"Yeah, well she'd have given Hahn a run for her money, Robbin's is totally hardcore." Alex says smirking.

"She wears pink, Karev, how hardcore can you be wearing pink?" Callie responds sarcastically.

* * *

"Where's Ortho, Karev?" Arizona asks, poking her head into the OR and looking around for the other doctor. She hasn't met her yet and didn't want her to think badly about leaving her this surgery without discussing it first.

"She just stepped out, she got a page." He says nodding at the other door.

"Oh, well are you almost done then?" The blonde asks him.

"Yeah, last suture right here." He says holding up his hands.

"Good, then meet me upstairs. We need to go over my patients. You're taking over my service for the weekend." She informs him, before popping back out of the OR.

"Great." He says to himself.

"Who are you talking to Karev?" Callie asks walking back into the OR.

"Robbins was just. Look, never mind. I'm done here and apparently I'm on Peds all weekend. So I'll meet you in post-op." He says stepping back from the patient as she examines his work.

Sounds good." Callie says, pulling off her gown as she walks out.

* * *

Sitting at her desk waiting for Karev, Arizona decides to text Colleen to see if she's available on Sunday. She meant to contact her yesterday for tonight, but she didn't get around to it. Just as well, she thinks. I'll see what Sloan is doing tonight, or maybe I'll go check out another lesbian bar.

Her phone buzzes quickly, Colleen agrees to late lunch on Sunday. The blonde smiles. She likes eager, eager is good.

"Hey." Alex says stepping into her office.

"Oh good. You're here. So I saw that you were on this weekend and I got you assigned to Peds. It looks like Bailey will be here too. I'm trying to find an apartment this weekend, so keep your contact with me to a minimum, okay?" She asks him.

"Whatever, sure." He says as if he's never paged an attending for no reason.

"Call me if you need me, just make sure its something that you actually need ME for." She says clarifying.

"Got it." He says impatiently.

Squinting at him, unsure now. The blonde stands up slowly and drops her phone back into her lab coat. "Okay, let's go and review cases." She says and he follows her to the nurses' station.

Okay case one is Jackson Prescott, still waiting for news from UNOS, he is priority one. If UNOS calls you page me first, no matter the day or time, you got that Karev?" Arizona waits for him to nod.

She continues going through chart after chart, writing notes and handing them to him to review. As they finish up, Dr Bailey walks up to discuss a case that she's working on with Dr Dixon. Bailey wants off the case, but Arizona encourages her to stay on it.

"Dr Bailey, I know that you are still very upset about Jackson's case, but he's stable now and the transplant will come in any day now. You need to stay with this case and see it through. There's a good chance that when you open up this little girl, you are going to find something relatively easy and fix it. You'll be handing her life back to her and her parents and believe me, you don't want to miss that. That is what is so incredible about Pediatric surgery." Arizona says to her softly yet firmly. "Stay with her Miranda, she needs you as much as you need her."

"But as a Mother, this is too hard. I don't think I can take having to tell another parent what I had to tell Mrs Prescott." Bailey replies.

"I think the fact that you're a mother, makes you uniquely qualified to handle this case and to be a Pediatric Surgeon. You care, you care so much. That makes you a good doctor. Dr Bailey. You'll see." Arizona replies.

* * *

In the attending locker room, Arizona grabs her clothes to head into the shower, when Sloan walks in.

"Hey Sloan, what are you up to tonight?" She asks.

"Lexie is in surgery, so I'll probably just go to Joe's and wait for her to get done. Why are you lonely tonight?" He says winking at her.

"Ha! No chance. It was a long day and I've got a lot lined up for this weekend. I'm apartment hunting and sightseeing." She replies, stepping into the shower.

"Well, you just come over and check out my building, its just down the block." He yells at her.

"Who are you talking to?" Callie asks entering the locker room.

"No one apparently." He says glaring at the door.

"So meet me at Joe's later?" She asks. "I need to get out tonight."

"Okay, I've got a thing with Weber, but sure. I'll meet you there." He says.

Closing her locker she turns around and flashes a big smile, "8 o'clock, Don't make me wait Sloan!"

* * *

Arizona is sitting at the bar alone, when a tall dark haired woman approaches her, "Dr Robbins?" She asks the blonde.

"Yes." Arizona replies, eyeing the leggy woman, trying to remember if she's met her before.

"We haven't met yet, I'm Meg Culvers, from Dermatology." She says extending her hand.

"Oh lovely to meet you Meg. Would you care to sit down and have a drink?" Arizona asks picking up her jacket and purse from the seat beside her.

Meg takes a moment to glance over to her friends and smile before she sits down beside the blonde.

As they are talking, Arizona notices the gorgeous Dr Torres enter the bar and sit down around the corner of the bar not that far from them. Her beautiful brown eyes are darting around the room as she's obviously looking for someone. Joe, the bartender, sets a shot of tequila down in front of her before she even asks for it. She tosses it back and nods for another.

Meg is telling her a funny story about someone at the hospital and Arizona is trying to politely smile and nod appropriately, but she's distracted by the other Brunette, who is looking more and more upset.

Finally, the Latina gets up and bolts for the bathroom, walking right past Arizona and Meg.

Waiting a moment as she looks around, no one else seems to have noticed it, so Arizona excuses herself and heads for the bathroom.

Entering the bathroom, Arizona sees her at the sink, wiping tears from her eyes and fixing her make up. "Hey" the blonde says greeting her.

"Hey" Callie replies glancing back in the mirror to check out the blonde.

"Ortho right?" Arizona says walking a little closer to her.

"Yeah, yeah." The other woman says not turning around to face her.

Determined to continue, the blonde steps a little closer, "I'm Arizona Robbins, Peds. I've seen you at the hospital." The blonde says looking into the mirror to make eye contact with her. "Um, are you okay?" She asks sweetly.

Feeling pathetic to have been found crying in the bathroom, Callie turns back around and says strongly, "You know I'm fine. I am fine."

"Well people talk. Where we work, people talk, a lot" the blonde replies, then adds, "So for the sake of being honest, I feel like I should say that I know things about you, because, uh, people talk."

"Oh." Callie says, then fully understanding she adds, "You mean… terrific." She says grimacing and looking down.

"It is actually." Arizona says bending down trying to maintain eye contact with the obviously embarrassed woman. "People really like you over there, they respect you and they are concerned and interested." The blonde says struggling to maintain eye contact with her. "Some of them, really like you."

Crossing her arms and leaning back on the counter, Callie struggles to understand what is going on, why is this woman being so nice to her.

"You, you look upset and I thought you should know. That the talk, the talk is good." She says smiling, blue eyes twinkling. "And you look upset, and when you're not upset. When you are over being upset, there will people lining up for you…"

Callie can't help but scoff at this remark, who is this chick? she wonders in her head, instead she laughs out loud, "Really? You want to give me some names?" She replies sarcastically, looking down at the floor.

Suddenly, she feels warm hands touching her face and turning it up, the blonde is biting her bottom lip tentatively, closing her eyes, she steps right in and kisses the brunette softly. Then steps back, releasing her, she says, "I think you'll know."

Then she laughs a little, and then turns and walks away. Callie can't help the huge smile that spreads across her face as she watches the blonde leave. "Whoa." she thinks to herself, that was frickin' hot.


	5. Chapter 5

Leaving the bathroom, Callie can't help but look around for the blonde. Where the hell did she go?

"Torres!" She turns when she hears Mark call her name.

"Have you seen Robbins?" She asks him.

"No, but oh hey, you finally met her?" He replies, waiting to see her response.

Touching her lips, Callie's smile is huge. "Yeah, yeah Mark. I met her alright."

"She said she'd be here." He says looking around, catching a glimpse of her leaving with a tall brunette, he turns Callie around the other direction, so she doesn't see her.

"Weird, I was just talking to her in the bathroom." Callie says confused.

* * *

Returning to the bar, Arizona is a little flustered that she just kissed the Latina. Not sure what she expected to happen when she went in there, but that was definitely not even in the realm of possibilities. But those curves and beautiful lips were quite hard to resist.

"Um, Meg. I'm sorry. I've had a really long day and I'm going to head out." Arizona explains when she gets back to the bar.

"Oh, well that's too bad. I was hoping we could grab a bite to eat and continue our conversation." Meg says smiling.

"Well, I haven't eaten. Would you like to grab a bite at the cafe down the street?" Arizona decides it's best to leave the bar as soon as possible. "I'm uh, not drinking tonight, I'm waiting for a call from UNOS on a transplant patient," she explains.

Over dinner, the two women talk and enjoy getting to know each other. Arizona is open about her dating life and that she has no plans to date anyone exclusively yet. Leaving the cafe, Meg decides to go for it and she waits for an opportunity to push the blonde up against the brick building and kiss her.

"Mmm, I'd apologize, but I've been wanting to do that for hours now." She says thickly.

Pushing away from the wall, the blonde reaches up and pulls her down to kiss her again. "Hmm, no apology needed." Arizona replies. "You should give me your number and we should go out again, when I'm not on-call." The blonde adds.

* * *

_What did you do to Torres? She has a stupid smile on her face that's been annoying me all night._

Laying in bed alone, Arizona laughs when she reads Sloan's text message.

Finally she decides to respond, _Wouldn't you like to know._

* * *

The weekend flies by and Pikes Place was interesting, Nancy also took her to the Sculpture park and it was a nice day. It rained off and on, of course, it is Seattle after all.

Throughout the morning, Sloan continued to text her and tell her about a one bedroom in his building, so she decides to check it out before meeting up with Nicole. He sets it up, so all she has to do is go look at it. Nancy drops her off at her hotel and Arizona walks the two blocks to the building Mark told her about. He's standing out front waiting for her.

"Hey." She says as she walks up to him. "Thanks for setting this up."

"No problem. Okay, so this is on the second floor. Steve will meet you inside." He says watching the door.

"Mark, what's going on. You're being totally weird now." The blonde asks him.

"Well, you need to go meet Steve and I'm going to lunch with Callie and I told her to meet me here." He explains.

"Wait Callie Torres lives in this building?" Arizona asks surprised.

"Yeah, yeah across the hall from me." He replies.

"Shit Mark, what are you doing to me?" She says hitting him in the arm.

"What? Why is that a..." Did you already screw things up with Torres?" He asks loudly.

"What? NO! Shut it Mark." She says rolling her eyes. "Fine, I'll go look at it. Just don't tell her okay?" Arizona asks.

"Fine, whatever. Just go now, she's on her way. Take the stairs!" He says as she disappears into the building.

* * *

Walking back to the hotel, Arizona smiles when she sees Nicole out front waiting for her.

"Sorry," she says I didn't mean to be late. My friend Mark called this morning and told me about a place not far from here and I wanted to check it out." The blonde explains.

"Did you like it?" Nicole asks.

"It's nice, but I want to see what else was available." The blonde replies. "Are you ready?"

* * *

Nicole showed her a few really nice, strategically located apartments. One was in her building, another was near her favorite bar, the last one was near Nicole's most recent ex-girlfriend. Well, what did you expect Robbins? The blonde asks herself. Dinner was good. Nicole picked a new restaurant, but near a lesbian neighborhood. Arizona knows better than to move to one of those areas. Too much drama. Maybe she should stay close to Seattle Grace, but then she has drama close to work, which isn't good either.

Letting Nicole lead her around today was easy; the blonde went into autopilot mode and just let the other steer their day, now though the blonde needs to decide whether to take control back, or let her continue to dictate the evening.

"Arizona?" Nicole asks as they leave the restaurant.

"Yeah?" The blonde replies looking over at her.

"There's a great dance club, not far from here. Would you like to check it out?" She asks.

Checking her phone for messages, the blonde sees a text from Karev.

_UNOS alert, possible match in Portland._

_Keep me posted. _

"Nicole, uh I need to go back to my hotel. There's a possible match on my transplant case, I'm on call." The blonde reminds her.

"Well, let me take you. It, uh, could be a long night waiting..." She says nuzzling the blonde's neck.

"Okay, but I may have to go in tonight. I just really need to make sure you understand that." Arizona says, pulling her face up and talking to her directly.

"Of course, I understand." She says.

* * *

"Wait. You're saying that she kissed you? Just out of the blue, hello, I'm Arizona Robbins and Mwaah!" He replies, trying to understand.

"No, I was upset. She was sweet, trying to make me feel better and then it just sort of happened. She moved in and just kissed me. It was really nice." Callie tries to explain what happened in the bathroom last night.

"Well, sure you were upset and she was trying to make you feel better. Perfectly understandable." Mark explains. "But Cal, that doesn't mean you should ask her out, what do you even know about her?"

"What do I know about her? Apparently you're friends with her. What do you know about her?" Callie turns around and corners him in the apartment.

"I-it doesn't matter. I don't know real things. You know me, I don't really know anyone." He says backpedaling out of the conversation.

"You've been telling me to get back on the horse Mark, this is me saddling up. Maybe I should ask her out, next time I see her. No, I'm going to go up to the Peds unit and find her and ask her out." Callie says excited and unsure.

* * *

"Bailey, what OR are we in?" Arizona asks as soon as she reaches the peds floor.

"What? Oh no, we don't have surgery, I just, uh wanted to talk to you. Jackson doesn't have much time left." Bailey replies.

"You paged me at 2:30 am on my night off so we talk?" Arizona looks at the attending like she's insane. "Dr Bailey, if one of your interns had done this, how would you respond?"

"Well, uh, look Dr Robbins, I'm sorry. But he is running out of time!" She says.

"In Peds, they always are. I'm going to lay down. Wake me if UNOS calls." Arizona says over her shoulder.

* * *

Waking up a few hours later on the couch in her office, Arizona checks her pager. Nothing. Perfect, I left a very nice warm bed and girl, only to end up alone on the couch in my office. Yawning, the blonde stands up and walks over to the window. At least the weather looks good today, she thinks. Grabbing her phone, lab coat and stethoscope, she leaves her office and heads to the nurses's station. "Any changes", she asks the nurse on duty.

"No Doctor." She replies.

"Okay, well I'm going home." Arizona tells her and heads back to the locker room to change clothes.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Almost to Calzona, hang in there...**

At the coffee cart the next morning, Arizona waits in line to get her usual coffee, but as the young brunette in front of her turns around she drops her cup, spilling coffee all over both of them.

"I-I'm so so sorry," she says nervously looking at the blonde.

"It's fine. I'm just going to end up in scrubs all day anyway." Arizona says side-stepping the mess. Look can I get you another cup, Julie?" She asks, looking down at the mess and seeing the name on the cup.

"Oh no, let me, it's the least I can do after that," she says looking down embarrassed.

"Here you, go and I've got this." Arizona says handing her another cup and paying for both.

"You're being amazing about this, why don't I buy you a drink tonight?" Julie offers, still flustered by the encounter with the attractive blonde.

"I don't really know what my day looks like yet, but here's my number. Check with me later and if I can, I'd love to." Arizona says writing her cell number on the card and handing it to her.

Smiling to herself, Arizona can't believe how easy it is to meet women in Seattle.

"How was the rest of your weekend?" Sloan asks following her into the elevator.

"None of your business." She says giving him side eye.

"Did you find an apartment?" He asks.

"Oh, not really. I should probably just rent the one you found for me, it's convenient enough." She admits.

"Uh about that, did you kiss Callie Torres on Friday night?" He asks.

"Wait, what? How would you know about... oh she told you." Arizona drops her face into the hand.

"She was upset, I was just trying to be nice."

"Well, you were too nice. Now she wants to ask you out." He explains. "And you can't go out with her. She's not like the girls that you're seeing now."

"I'm going to pretend not to be insulted by that comment, Dr Sloan." Arizona says stepping out of the elevator.

* * *

After rounds with Bailey and Karav that morning, Arizona pulls Bailey aside.

"Dr Bailey, a word please?"

"Dr Robbins, I want to apologize. I had no right to page you for a consult at 2 am. It won't happen again."

"It occurred to me that a doctor who pages her Chief at 2 am on a Sunday morning worried about a patient, is the doctor that I want to apply for the pediatric fellowship." Arizona says handing Bailey an info packet on the fellowship.

"Wait, you want me to apply for the peds fellowship?" Miranda asks incredulously.

"Yes, you are built for Peds Dr Bailey. Fill this out, get letters of recommendation, good ones, this is a highly competitive program." Arizona informs her. "And turn that in by Wednesday."

Hiding her smile, the blonde walks off back to her office. Closing the door, she pulls out her phone and checks her messages.

_Julie: It is your fault that I spilled that coffee, you know._

_AZ: What?_

_Julie: Your gorgeous smile and amazing blue eyes, it's a wonder I could even talk._

_AZ: Hmmm, well, I could try not to smile or look at you directly, if it's too much for you ;-)_

_Julie: Don't worry, I'll be ready for you next time. Let me know about tonight!_

* * *

"Dr Robbins?" Karev asks knocking on her door.

"Yes?" She says spinning around in her chair and slipping her phone back into her lab coat.

"I have those test results on James and his parents are in with him now too."

"Hmm," she says taking the results and reviewing them. "Did you look at these doctor?" she asks him.

"Yes, I did. His white count is very high and he has a UTI." Alex replies.

"Okay, so what's next?" She asks him.

"Ultrasound to rule out kidney stones, due to his complaint of pain during urination and inability to void." He explains.

"Good. Let's go talk to the parents and get their approval."

* * *

"Good catch, Karev. Cowper's duct blockage is not easily diagnosed. But you caught it on the ultrasound and then verified it with the MRI." The blonde says to the resident as they scrub together for the surgery.

The procedure is complicated and it takes longer than Arizona anticipated, making her late for drinks with Julie at Joe's.

Leaving the scrub room, she quickly ducks into her office to text Julie and let her know that she's running late. Then she meets up with Karev to give him post op instructions.

* * *

Walking into Joe's, Arizona sees Nicole right by the door. She greets her and then goes over to Julie.

"Hi." she says smiling, "I'm Arizona." The blonde leans in to greet her, admiring her red leather jacket.

"Arizona, you were really worth the wait." Julie says, eyeing the slender blonde's form and returning the smile.

"You're just full of flattery, aren't you." Arizona says motioning to Joe for a drink, touching her pager so he knows she's on call. He hands her a club soda with lime.

"Oh I was going to get that." Julie says confused.

"No it's fine. I'm still on call. So no drinks for me tonight." She explains.

"So you're a pediatrician?" Julie asks.

"Not exactly. I'm a pediatric surgeon." The blonde replies. "What do you do Julie?"

"I work in accounting, my building is just down the street. The coffee cart at the hospital is on my way and quicker than that cafe on the corner." She explains.

Looking around the room, Arizona sees Colleen and Meg. She realizes that this could get weird quickly, so she takes out her pager and fakes a page.

"Oh no. I have to go", she says checking the pager and sticking it back in her pocket. "I'll call you." Arizona says leaning in and kissing her cheek before darting off.

* * *

Back in her hotel room, Arizona eats dinner alone. Taking out her phone she makes a phone call and sets up an appointment to rent the apartment for the next day. Then she calls her parents and tells them all about Seattle.

* * *

Down the street Callie and Mark are eating dinner at her place. "Mark, I've never asked a woman out before. I don't know how to go about it. I'm so nervous that I dodged her three times today, thank god it's a big hospital."

"Cal, don't worry about it. When you're ready, you'll now what to say. Don't force it." He advises.

* * *

The rest of week goes by quickly and Arizona has managed to get the apartment rented and her Mom is shipping the rest of her stuff, but she still needs to go out and get furniture. To her surprise Nicole offers to go with her and swaps days off. At the furniture store the blonde is very decisive, she moves efficiently and chooses quickly. Nicole has to laugh at how easily she makes decisions.

"How do you do that so easily?" Nicole asks. "How do you pick out this stuff so quickly?

"It's just stuff." Arizona explains, "I make difficult decisions every day at work. These are easy. If I don't like it, I'll get rid of it and buy something else.

"Well, at this rate, you'll be sleeping in your own apartment by tomorrow. Provided they can deliver it that quickly." She points out.

"Oh, I've arranged delivery for today and I checked out of the hotel already."

* * *

"Thank you for going with me today. It's not really something I expected you to do, but thank you. It was nice not to do it alone." Arizona says as they stand out in front of the apartment building waiting for the deliver truck.

"I don't mind. Arizona what is your schedule like this weekend, there's another club that I'd love to take you to."

"I'm off on Sunday, so maybe we can go out on Saturday." She offers. She does like Nicole, she's fun and flirty. It won't hurt to go out with her again.

Just then the truck arrives and the guys start unloading her furniture. Arizona leads them into the building and asks Nicole to stay out with them and make sure they don't drop anything.

As the guys unload the couch and chair from the truck, Callie comes home and recognizing Nicole, she greets her and asks her if she's moving into the building.

"No, my friend is moving in Dr Torres," she explains.

"Does he or she work at the hospital?" Callie asks.

"Yes, she does actually." Nicole responds, then as the guys come back for the couch, Nicole excuses herself.

* * *

"Did you know Dr Torres lives in this building?" Nicole asks sipping a beer and watching Arizona arrange the furniture.

"Oh really?" the blonde replies distracted by trying to determine placement for the couch.

"She's really hot. I never understood her and Erica Hahn. Talk about opposites," she continues to talk idly. "Now her and Mark Sloan made a lot of sense, that was so much hotness together. Have you met him yet?

"Who?" Arizona asks.

"Dr Sloan, have you met him?" Nicole asks.

"Yes, I have. Hey are you getting hungry? We should order pizza." Arizona says looking for her phone.

"Oh here I'll order it." Nicole offers.

Then watches the blonde pick up her phone, apparently reading a few messages.

"Sure thanks, I'll eat whatever." Arizona says, turning back to her phone. She has two messages from Julie and one from Meg. Quickly replying to each of them, the blonde locks her phone and sets it back down. Then heads into the bedroom.

Nicole sits there for a moment. She really likes the Arizona, but the blonde has made it clear that she's not ready to date anyone. Maybe I'm wasting my time she thinks. But on the other hand, I don't really have anyone else that I'm interested in, so why not spend time with her. She's beautiful and interesting, even if she's hard to get to know.

* * *

Walking around the sparsely furnished bedroom Arizona can't help but think it is better than the hotel room, with it's fake home feeling. Moving as much as she did growing up, she never had much accumulation of things. So the lack of stuff really doesn't bother her, although she knows that her Mom will send all kinds of stuff to help her feel more at home.

Walking back into the living room, she sees Nicole has decided to set up her TV stand.

"Sorry, I don't even have any tools to put that together with." The blonde explains.

"Hey don't worry. Look I'll just run back to my place and get a few things and we'll have it put together in no time." She says grabbing her phone and keys.

"Okay, are you sure that you don't mind?" The blonde asks.

"I don't mind. I need to let my dog out anyway." Nicole remarks.

"I didn't even know that you had a dog." Arizona remarks.

"Well my roommate and I share him. But she's working so I should run over there. I'll be right back."

* * *

A while later, there's a knock on the door and Arizona grabs her wallet assuming its the pizza guy.

"Not bad Robbins." Sloan says sauntering into her apartment.

"Don't even start with me Sloan, and for the record, I haven't even seen Torres this week. But don't worry, I'm not really interested in dating a newbie."

"You're calling her a newbie? I'm offended for her. She's good, you'd be lucky to have her." He says puffing up a bit.

"You think she's good with women? Let me guess, you taught her some moves?" Arizona laughs so hard she almost falls off the bar stool.

Sloan walks over to her fridge and takes out a beer. "I'll have you know, Erica was happy with her moves." He says confidently.

"Shut it. Mark, we are not having this extremely weird discussion any more." Arizona says handing him the bottle opener. Just then there's another knock on the door. This time it's the pizza guy, followed by Nicole.

"Hello Nicole." Marks says greeting her, "I was just leaving. Welcome to the building, Robbins." He says winking at her.

"Okay, let's eat first!" Arizona says, opening the pizza box.

* * *

"Hey where have you been and why are you walking around with a beer?" Callie asks suspiciously.

"Oh, I just stopped to meet the new people moving in and they gave me a beer." He explains. "So Cal how's your week been?"

She follows him into his apartment and sits at the bar. "Its fine. Look, I've been dodging her all week." She begins to say.

"Who? Who are you dodging?" He asks to buy him sometime to think.

"Arizona Robbins, the woman who kissed me the other night at Joe's." She says loudly.

"Right, right. The new peds attending." He says taking another drink of his beer and setting it down.

"Chief of Peds. I'm still not sure about asking her out. Do you know if she's seeing anyone?" Callie asks him.

"I'm not sure. I've seen her a Joe's a couple of times, but never with the same, uh, person." He replies.

"Hmm, but she does date women? God, she has to date women. She kissed me and only a woman who dates women would kiss a woman in the bathroom, right?" She asks about to spin out again.

"Of course, she dates woman." He replies.

Looking at him for a second, Callie realizes what he's not saying. "She wouldn't even go out with you, would she? Okay, so she's a lesbian."

"Maybe she just doesn't date handsome doctors." Mark counters back, finishing off the beer.


	7. Chapter 7

Friday morning Arizona wakes up a bit disoriented but then remembers where she's at, she's in her new apartment.

Waking up slowly, she stretches and rolls over. Remembering how disappointed Nicole was when she sent her home after a brief make out session on the couch. The blonde knows it's probably weird, but since she has a brand new bed, she's decided not to just have sex with random women in it this time. Deciding to wait until she's dating someone to have them over, feels more mature. Now that I'm a department head, I should maybe figure out this dating stuff and not repeat my past mistakes. I'm in a new place, I can be a new person, she reminds herself.

Walking to work from the other end of the block, she notices a cafe and pops in to get coffee and a scone. Noticing that Calliope Torres is there, the blonde ducks over to the other line, so the Latina doesn't see her.

Arizona takes a minute to fix her coffee, giving the brunette time to get a head of her, so they don't cross paths. God! What was I thinking? Look, I'll just tell her we should be friends. She looks fun and I'm already friends with Sloan.

* * *

"Hey Karev, where's Dr Bailey?" Arizona asks walking up to the nurses' station.

"She got called into the OR on an ER case that came in 20 minutes ago." He says looking up at her.

"Okay, so it's just me and you. Let's get started."

"Pete Foster, 11 years old. He fell out of tree and landed on his bike. He had a splenectomy yesterday, post op numbers look good. " Karev states as they enter the room. Arizona takes a moment to examine him and review the chart. She talks with the parents and then they move to the next room.

"Holly Martin, 7 years old, chronic obstructed bowel. We have her scheduled for an ultrasound this morning."

Arizona talks to the patient and her parents about what to expect from the ultrasound and additional tests that may be needed.

"Jackson Prescott, awaiting liver and bowel transplant." Karev pauses, watching Arizona go over and sit with the mother. By now they all know that time is getting very short for Jackson and there's not much left to discuss. It's really just a waiting game at this point.

As they finish up, Arizona tells Karev to go ahead home. He's been on for 48 hours.

* * *

"Hey" Callie says walking up behind the blonde as she stands charting at the nurses' station.

"Calliope! I haven't seen you around." Arizona says smiling as she turns to face her.

"Yeah well, I've been avoiding you," she says joking, but not joking.

Arizona laughs unsure if that was a joke or not.

"I know it's so weird, you share a kiss with a woman that you've never seen before." She says nervously, then adds. "Honestly its a new adventure, one that I totally look forward to taking for the second time."

Arizona crosses her arms, oh no she thinks for the second time?

"Anyway, uh, do you wanna go on a date with me?" Callie finally asks.

"Wait, so Erica and you, she was your first?"

"Yeah." Callie replies confused.

"Hmm, that's okay, then I guess that my answer is no. I'm sorry." Arizona says turning to walk off.

"W-wait, wait." Callie says reaching out to grab her sleeve. "What? You kissed me. Out of nowhere in a bathroom."

"See this is what I try to avoid. You're all exploring and experimenting. Yay! This is a really exciting time for you." She says enthusiastically. "But I work in Peds and I spend my entire day around newborns, and uh I try not to do that in my personal life. Thanks for asking though. I'm super flattered. Super." She says smiling and then walks off.

Callie stands there totally stunned. What the hell is that? She asks herself and then turns around to head to her office. Walking out of the elevator she sees Mark.

"Newborn? Who is she calling a newborn? I am a senior resident. I am an orthopedic surgeon, I'm a divorcee. I am not a freaking newborn." She says as she approaches him.

"What are you talking about?" He asks when she finally stops ranting.

"I asked Arizona out and she said no.

"Oh." He says scratching his face. "Well, you know you're new to the game, so she's hesitant..."

"Mark Sloan, you've discussed this with her and you knew?!" Callie says grabbing his arm and shoving him into an on-call room. "What the hell Mark? Why did you let me ask her out?"

"I didn't let you do anything, last I heard you were hiding from her." He yells back at her. "How was I supposed to know that you'd ask her out today?"

"What did she say? I'm sure she didn't just say no." He replies.

"She said 'no, I'm sorry' Mark, then added that she was 'super flattered'." Callie yells back at him.

"Ouch. Wow. Well, she's an idiot. Forget her." He says moving over to comfort her.

"I can't. She kissed me and it was a really good kiss, Mark." Callie says dropping her head into his shoulder.

* * *

Sitting at Joe's that night beside Bailey, Callie sips on her bourbon and water and watches Arizona talking with a couple of other women. Unable to sit idly by, she strides up to the blonde and says, "I have plenty of experience."

Arizona turns around as her conversation is interrupted and says simply, "Calliope."

"I have life experience. Did you know that I was married? Or that I was in the Peace Corps, Botswana, it's what convinced me to go to med school?" Callie is on a roll and feeling pretty confident about what she has to offer.

Arizona smiles at Callie, then turns to the brunette sitting beside her. Trying not to laugh, but feeling like she needs to explain or apologize, the two women exchange an awkward look.

But Callie keeps talking "I've recently started cooking and I make an excellent Chicken Piccata as well as many other delicious meals, which you'd be very lucky to enjoy. Choosing not to go out with me. well that makes you very inexperienced. "

Setting her now very empty drink down, Arizona turns to the brunette beside her and says,

"Calliope Torres meet Julie," then turning around embarrassed for both of them she adds, "my date."

Taking a moment to understand, Callie sets her drink down on the bar and leaves.

* * *

A few days later, Callie is talking with Mark about his hand. He and Derek got in a fight over him dating Lexie Grey and they punched each other. Mark's hand is swollen and he can't operate. Just as she's done examining his hand, Arizona walks by and Callie ducks pulling Mark in front of her as a shield.

"Callie what the hell?" Mark asks, trying to turn around to see who she's hiding from.

"I'm kind of hiding from the peds surgeon now, I sort of went off on her in front of her date at Joe's the other night." Callie explains.

"Are you insane? You went off on her and her date?" He asks.

"Well, I didn't know she was on a date. I just saw her and walked up to her to tell her how wrong she was in what she said to me and then she's all like, oh Calliope meet Julie, my date." Callie rants again.

"Very mature." Mark replies.

"Uh, you got in a fist fight. No judging." She responds and walks off.

* * *

In the OR with Hunt and Robbins, Karev has diagnosed a teenage girl with a rare cardiac disorder, so rare that Hunt and Robbins doubt the diagnosis, so they conduct a test in the OR to determine if Karev is right. He is and the girl needs a pacemaker to correct it. It's a very intense moment for him, waiting to see if his diagnosis is right or if she's going to code and they'll need to resuscitate her.

Later he explains to the girl that she's no longer going to pass out or have seizures, but she will have to go to a cardiologist and have her conditioned monitored. Walking out of the room, he sees Hunt and Robbins in the hall and they congratulate him again on making the tough diagnosis.

"You may be the one to watch, Karev." Arizona says softly to him as she walks away proudly. She's only worked with him a few weeks, but he's definitely showing signs of promise.

* * *

Rushing to the elevator, Arizona steps in only to realize that Callie is in it, also leaving for the day. Pausing a moment, she decides to talk with the brunette, even though she's standing there with her arms crossed looking like she'd rather be anywhere else.

"So I had a quite a day. Got my ass handed to me by Alex Karev, a second year resident. Which is humbling for a surgeon, especially a know-it-all type A..." The blonde says turning to face her.

"We don't have to do this." Callie says interrupting her. "We don't have to be friends, this is a big hospital with lots of floors and lots of places to hide, and I'm perfectly okay doing that for the next few years.

"You are not hearing me Calliope. Sometimes I panic in the moment, and I call it wrong. I misjudge a situation. So if you're up for it, I'd like to take you to dinner." The blonde says apologizing.

Shrugging, Callie says, "Maybe." as she steps off the elevator.

"Maybe?" Arizona repeats confused.

"My schedule is kind of insane right now, so I'll, uh, get back to you." The brunette says walking away before the doors close.

Watching the doors close, the blonde can't believe what just happened. This woman is insane, she thinks to herself. Why am I putting myself out there for her, when there are plenty of others who will go out with me whenever I ask?

Just then the leather clad arm of Calliope Torres shoots through the doors and they re-open to reveal a smiling Callie Torres. "How's tomorrow?"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: now the fun begins, because we never really saw or heard much about their dates, so I'm going to fill that in for us, hope you like it.**

"Mark, she'll be here any minute. Should I wear this or this?" Callie asks him impatiently.

It's a first date, wear the leather jacket. You're smoking hot in that thing for god's sake." He finally says.

"Okay, why was that so hard?" She asks as he walks out the door, back to his own apartment.

"Hey." Arizona says knocking lightly on the open door.

"Oh, hey. Just uh, give me a minute okay? I'll be right back." Callie ducks down the hall to her bedroom.

Walking in and looking around a minute, Arizona can't believe how much bigger this apartment is than her own.

"Okay, I'm ready." Callie says walking back into the room. The brunette is wearing a pair of jeans, low cut blouse and her black leather jacket.

"Wow, Calliope. You make casual look, well not casual at all. You're beautiful." Arizona says as Callie crosses the room to stand in front of her.

"Oh please, do you not have a mirror?" She says scoffing at the compliment, "You are gorgeous," Callie says leaning in and lightly kissing her lips. Pulling back, she smiles at the surprised look on the blonde's face.

"Now we're even. And I won't be distracted by wanting to do that all night." She says confidently, picking up her purse and moving out to the hall to wait for the blonde.

Smiling and biting her lip, Arizona realizes that she's definitely got her hands full with this one.

* * *

"Where's your car?" Callie asks as they walk outside.

"We're not going to Joe's are we?" She asks hesitantly, trying not to show her disappointment.

Crossing her arms and looking offended, the blonde looks down the street. "I thought we could walk over to the Italian place on 7th?" She replies. "Oh unless you prefer to drive, then I can get my car." The blonde says panicking.

"No, walking is good. It's nice actually. I don't mind." Callie says.

"So Botswana?" Arizona asks as they begin walking.

Smiling, Callie is happy to talk about one of the most pivotal times of her life and the blonde is a great listener.

Over dinner, they share many great stories with each other and as they walk back to the apartment, Callie pauses. "Listen I really want to invite you up for a drink, but my roommate is home now and god only knows what the apartment looks like now." She explains.

"It's fine. I, uh, have an early day tomorrow." The blonde says yawning.

"Oh I'm so sorry. Here I am just chatting away..." The brunette says embarrassed. Then suddenly she feels a warm body pressed into her and those soft pink lips on hers again.

"Hmm," the blonde says pulling away. "Good night Calliope." She says walking away.

"Arizona, wait?" Callie calls after her.

"Can we go out again? I know another great restaurant, we should try." She says walking towards the blonde.

"I'd like that." She replies.

"Okay." The brunette replies, beaming a big happy smile at her.

* * *

The next morning Arizona gets up really early and makes her way to the hospital. Tonight, she's got a date with Nicole and even though she has fun with her, it's probably going to be the last one. She can't stop thinking about Calliope Torres.

"Okay, what do we have?" Arizona asks as she enters the ER.

"Trauma room 3," Hunt yells too her.

"O'Malley?" The blonde says entering the room.

"Dr Robbins, 10 year old girl, accidental drowning. She hit her head on the pool and fell in. Resuscitated at the scene. I'm waiting for neuro to access." He explains.

"Good. Did you x-ray her chest?" The senior surgeon asks.

"No? Should I?" He asks confused.

"Not necessarily. But do you know why I asked?"

"Possible pulmonary edema? Oh, wait. CPR could have cracked her ribs." He says smiling, proud of himself.

"Right, did you find any tenderness?" She asks quickly examining the patient.

"No. Hey Dr Shepherd." George says stepping back as the neuro surgeon enters the room.

Efficiently moving to examine the young girl, he asks. "CT yet?"

"No, we wanted you to see her first." The blonde says stepping up, "Arizona Robbins, Chief of Peds."

"Derek Shepherd, Chief of Neuro. Let me know when you've got a CT." He says smiling and putting his light back into his pocket. "Welcome aboard Dr Robbins." he says as he leaves.

* * *

Just as the girl goes up to CT with O'Malley, Arizona's pager goes off. It's UNOS.

"Is Dr Bailey on call?" She asks the nurse at the desk.

Just then her phone rings. "Yes, yes. Okay. Perfect." Arizona says hanging up the phone. Bailey offered to go over to Mercy and harvest the organs.

"Stevens, you want on my service today?" Arizona asks the young resident.

"Yes, Dr Robbins. What do you have?" She asks.

"Jackson Prescott, go prep him for transplant surgery. I'm calling for an OR now and Dr Bailey's headed to Mercy West to get the organs."

Smiling and quite pleased for the opportunity to scrub in on a transplant, the blonde runs for the elevator.

* * *

Following up with the patient in the CT, Arizona is relieved that she doesn't need surgery. So she admits her for observation and gives O'Malley instructions, before heading down to Jackson's room to talk with his mother and get her final consents.

Upstairs in the OR, Arizona scrubs and mentally prepares herself for the transplant surgery. Izzy Stevens scrubs too, just listens to the surgeon as she reviews each part of the surgery. Having observed a few transplants already, Stevens understands that how this has to happen. And she's relieved that the senior surgeon appears nervous. Confident, but still a little nervous.

As they get word that Bailey has arrived with the organs, Arizona nods and they enter the OR to begin.

* * *

The transplant takes all afternoon and when they are done. The doctors go to the lounge and sit down.

"Okay, I'll stay tonight and monitor him." Bailey offers.

Nodding. Arizona looks over at the smaller woman. "Did you get your packet turned in for the fellowship?", she asks.

"Not yet." Bailey admits. "But I will have it on Monday."

"Did you get the letter from Weber?" The senior surgeon asks.

"Yeah, but he gave me a damn form letter. But Addison Montgomery gave me a glowing recommendation, so it should balance out."

"What's up with Weber? He talks so highly of your skills." She asks confused.

"Uh, apparently he thinks highly of my skills as a general surgeon, but he's not a fan of me going to Peds." Bailey explains.

"Oh, well a letter from Addison Montgomery is going to help you more anyway." Arizona admits. "Have you worked with her much?" The blonde asks.

"I have, she's uh, Dr Shepherd's ex-wife. She was on staff here briefly, but now she lives in LA and only comes here for consults. She actually delivered my baby."

"Oh, were there complications?" Arizona asks.

"The main complication was that my husband was in an accident on his way to the hospital and I-I didn't want to have our baby with him on Dr Shepherd's operating table. Of course, you don't really get to just decide not to have a baby. But Addison was there with me and O'Malley. Little Tucker is actually named after George O'Malley." Bailey explains, not really sure why she's telling the blonde this whole story.

"And Tucker is fine? I mean I saw you with him the other day and he looks perfectly healthy." The blonde explains.

"Yes, he's fine. I just wish my marriage was as healthy as my son." She says sadly. "Look, I've already told you more about myself, than I've ever told anyone. Except maybe Torres. We were residents together", she says to explain their connection.

"I see. Well, Dr Bailey. I can stay tonight. You go home to your husband. It's your day off. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you." The blonde says standing up to go check on Jackson.

"That's just it." He won't actually. "He won't be happy to see me. I'm sure that he's already taken Tuck over to his mother's house and he's out with his friends." She explains. "I'd rather stay here tonight Dr Robbins. You go ahead. I've got this."

"If you're sure." Arizona says looking at the other surgeon.

* * *

Walking into her building, Arizona runs into Callie.

"Oh hey. I'm sorry do we have plans?" The brunette asks confused.

"No, sorry. Long day." The blonde says heading up the stairs.

"Wait, you live here. In this building?" Callie says following her up the stairs.

"Yeah, I'm on two." She says turning to go.

"Wow. I didn't see that coming." Callie says heading back down the stairs.

* * *

The next morning, Arizona is again entering the building and runs into Callie. Obviously wearing last night's clothes, the blonde looks a little hungover.

"Good morning?" Callie asks cautiously.

"Oh, hi Calliope." She responds. "I-I uh..."

"Save it. We're not dating. I get it. You went out with someone and, judging by your little walk of shame here it went all night." Callie says looking her up and down.

"This may not be the right time to ask, but I would really like to go out with you, again. This isn't what it looks like." Arizona offers to explain.

"I've got plans this afternoon. But tell you what, let's go grab some pizza tonight. I'll pick you up around seven?" The Latina suggests intrigued.

"Okay, seven is good. I'm in 205." The blonde says a little confused as to why that worked out for her.

* * *

Waking up from her nap. Arizona jumps in the shower and thinks about the past 24 hours. She checked with Bailey and Jackson is still holding his own after the transplant. Last night with Nicole was fun, until they got back to her place and Arizona tried to leave. The girl really wanted the blonde to stay and they had a good evening together, but Arizona couldn't help thinking about Calliope. So she told her that she'd met someone else and didn't want to stay and lead her on. That didn't go over very well, and the blonde ended up staying the night trying to console her. Finally leaving after she fell asleep.

* * *

"Hey, Calliope. Come on in." Arizona says answering the door.

The brunette looks gorgeous again, dressed casually. Hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Closing the door and turning around. The blonde feels like she should explain earlier.

"Look, I just want you to know that I did have a date last night. But despite what it looked like, I uh, I didn't sleep with her. In fact, I broke things off with her, not that I was dating her, but I do try to be clear with people." She rambles.

"Okay." Callie says.

"Okay?" Arizona repeats.

"Yes. It's okay, for now, if you are seeing other people. Just remember that goes both ways. So let's make sure that we are clear, in case things change between us." Callie replies casually. "Deal?"

"Uh, yeah. Deal." Arizona replies confused. Well Sloan wasn't kidding when he said that she's not like the other girls.

"Your place is nice, by the way." The brunette says as they shut the door behind them.

"Shut it," she teases, recognizing the sarcasm as her place is almost empty. "The rest of my stuff is on it's way." She explains, "Mom shipped it last week."

* * *

Over pizza the two women, talk easily. Arizona tells her about her childhood moving from military base to military base. And explains how she came to be named Arizona.

Callie explains, that she's never had anyone outside of teachers and her parents call her by her first name, but admits that she likes the way it sounds coming from the blonde's lips.

Arizona smiles and confesses that she doesn't like to use nicknames because they imply a certain intimacy that she generally tries to avoid. But admits, that it seems to have had the opposite effect on Callie.

Callie laughs and admits that is true. Then she leans forward and teases, "So you're just going to sit there and pretend like everyone that you know, calls you Arizona?"

"No, I-I have nicknames. My brother Tim and his best friend Nick had nicknames for me. But I haven't been close to anyone in a long time. Tim, uh, Tim died in Afghanistan a few years ago." She confides.

"Oh no, I'm sorry. Arizona, I had no idea. I didn't mean to bring that up for you." Callie says moving forward and placing her hand on the blonde's thigh.

"It's fine. I don't usually talk about it." She says embarrassed.

"Well, I'm honored that you told me." The brunette says moving in to embrace her. "Look let's get out of here." She says waving to the server to bring her the tab.

Walking back to their apartment building, Callie takes the blonde's arm and links it with her own. It feels comfortable, the blonde smiles at her and the Latina beams her thousand watt smile.


	9. Chapter 9

"You should come in for drink." Arizona says as they walk towards the door to her apartment.

"I really want to, but I'm going to pass. No offense, but you just spent last night with someone else. So let's just take our time. Okay?" Callie says pulling the blonde in close.

Pulling back the blonde bites her lip and considers this request. It's a fair request, to be sure. But she still doesn't like it. So she leans in and kisses the tempting red lips that are right in front of her.

Moving her arms, Callie pins the blonde against the door with her body and deepens the kiss.

"Oh you want to make this hard, I can make it real hard for you," she says playfully. Kissing her harder, then biting the pink lip as she pulls away.

Leaning against her door, unsure of what just happened. Arizona opens her eyes and reaches up and touches her lip. It's still smarting from the little bite and her whole body is tingling, missing the contact of the luscious Latina's curves.

Unlocking her door and flopping down on her couch, the blonde considers; this must be the difference between dating a girl and dating a woman. Good god, I'm in so much trouble here, she thinks.

* * *

The next morning as Arizona comes down the stairs to leave the building, she sees Calliope.

"Good morning!" She says to the brunette.

"Good morning." Callie replies, glancing at her and biting her lip.

"Don't do that. It's really distracting." Arizona says pushing the door open for her.

"What I didn't do anything?" Callie says turning to wait for her.

"You did. You looked at me like you wanted to kiss me." The blonde says stopping on the sidewalk, waiting to see if she'll do it.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Callie says looking away and smiling.

"Hmm," I don't believe that for a second." Arizona replies, walking off.

Watching the toned body of the blonde walking in front of her, Callie can't help but feel a little playful.

"You could slow down and let me catch up, though I am totally appreciating the view from back here." She calls out.

The blonde stops in her tracks. "Are you seriously oogling my ass this morning?" She asks, pretending to be offended.

"It's a nice ass." Callie admits.

"Well, this ass could have been yours, but you're the one who disappeared last night." The blonde replies teasing back.

"So, so not fair." Callie mutters to herself.

* * *

Callie stops at the cafe for coffee and Arizona still playing hard to get, goes on ahead and gets coffee at the cart in front of the hospital. Taking a moment to talk with Yang, she watches Callie approach them.

"You better clean up the living room Yang, you're the worst roommate ever." Callie says as she walks by them.

"Wait, you're the terrible roommate?" Arizona asks turning to her.

"Oh crap, that means you're the new girl she talked about all night." Yang says walking away disgusted.

* * *

All day Arizona is in the best mood. Nothing bothers her. She has managed to send a few fun and flirty texts to Calliope, to which she responded rather quickly, which indicates to her that they are definitely on the same page.

By late morning Arizona gets pulled into a crazy long surgery with Dr Dixon and Yang to resolve a genetic cardiac disorder on a 13 year old boy. But it goes really well which only makes her happier, if that is possible. Out of surgery, she quickly looks at the board to see if Calliope is available, but to her disappointment, she sees that she is in OR 3. Starving, she heads down to the cafeteria to get a smoothie and then sneaks into the gallery to watch the procedure.

Callie is in the OR with Meredith Grey and they are rebuilding a guy's hand. Arizona is quite impressed and moves to the edge of her seat, just as Calliope looks up and sees her. They lock eyes and Torres winks at her. The blonde laughs. Wow, she's never felt such attraction before. What is it about this woman, she asks herself?

Leaving the gallery, Arizona runs into Mark Sloan. "Are they done?" he asks.

"Almost." She says.

"What are you doing tonight?" He asks.

"I don't know yet." The blonde admits.

"As in you don't know who you're going out with?" He asks.

"As in, I don't know if Calliope wants to go out tonight." She admits.

"Hmm, I don't even know how to respond to that." He says shaking his head.

* * *

Leaving the hospital, Arizona decides to meet Mark for a drink at Joe's. She walks up to him and he hands her a shot of tequila. They toss them back and she sees Meg.

"Hey", she says, "keep track of me Sloan. And remember I need to go home soon." She tells him. Nodding to Joe to set them up another round.

An hour later, the Latina walks into Joe's and spies Mark and Arizona.

"Hey", Callie says walking up to them, quickly realizing that she's a little late to the party. Listening to Arizona a minute, she can tell that she's tipsy, so Callie quickly takes the two shots sitting there that Mark and Arizona have forgotten. Then sidles up to the blonde and spins her around. "Hey?" She says turning her around.

"Calliope!" The blonde says greeting her and falling into her arms. "I've missed you," she says a bit drunkenly.

"Hmm, really?" Callie says looking across the dance floor and seeing Mark Sloan. "Seems like you all started without me?" She observes.

"Yes, but we're celebrating you!" The blonde says, pulling her close. "You're a rockstar ortho surgeon!" She says kissing her.

"Hmm, yes, yes I am a rockstar surgeon. But right now, I'm thinking that I need to get you home." She says to the blonde.

"That sounds perfect." Arizona says teasing her.

"Arizona, you may be a bit drunk. I'm just going to take you to your apartment and put you to bed." Callie tells her.

"Most of that sounds awesome." Arizona replies, pressing her body up against the Latina.

"Now who's not playing fair?" Callie asks.

"I have no intention of playing fair." Arizona says, pulling her in close and kissing her deeply.

"Arizona, you're, you're drunk. I can't..." Callie protests, but the blonde keeps pressing up against her.

"Look, let's just get you home." Callie says wrangling the blonde off the dance floor.

"Then catching Mark Sloan's eye, she says, "You're totally not my best friend any longer."

"What? She's a little drunk, but totally waiting for you. So I've pretty much done my job." he explains.

"Well, okay then Sloan. Thanks." Callie says laughing as she continues to fend off the blonde's drunken advances.

* * *

"You and Sloan are no longer allowed to hang out together." Callie says as she unlocks the blonde's apartment door.

"I have no idea why you'd say that?" The blonde says falling into her apartment, pulling the brunette in with her.

"Calliope". She says thickly, pressing against her and kissing her neck.

"Arizona, no. You need to eat something. And maybe take a shower." Callie suggests, pulling away.

"Join me?" She asks flirtingly.

"I would love to, but not like this." The brunette says, standing outside of the bathroom waiting for the blonde to shower. Then handing her a robe. "Put this on, no seriously. Put this on." She says firmly.

* * *

The next morning, Arizona wakes up naked in her bed. Faint memories of Callie confuse her, she sees her robe on the floor by the bed, so she picks it up and puts on, but doesn't tie it. Walking into her kitchen she freaks out when she sees the brunette sleeping on her couch.

"Oh!" The blonde says loudly, ducking behind the kitchen island, since she's barely dressed.

"What? Are you okay?" Callie asks, before she's even awake.

"Um, you're still here." Arizona says from the kitchen, where she quickly spun around so she could tie the robe.

"Yeah, you were pretty drunk. I didn't want to leave you alone." Callie explains.

"Thank you, I think." The blonde says. "I'm sorry about that." She adds. "Tequila on an almost empty stomach was a bad idea."

"Drinking with Mark Sloan is usually a bad idea." Callie says sitting up on the couch.

"What time do you go in today?" the blonde asks her.

"Not until nine." Callie says yawning and stretching.

"I'm so sorry that you slept on my couch." Arizona says watching her. "You should have taken the bed and put me on the couch, I wouldn't have noticed."

"Good point!" Callie says with a laugh. "I'm going to go get ready for work. See you later?"

"Yes, and let me buy you dinner tonight?" Arizona asks her, still hiding behind the island in the kitchen.

"Why Dr Robbins are you asking me out on a date?" Callie asks playfully, coming around the counter and noticing how short the robe is and how toned her legs are.

"I most definitely am. I'll pick you up at seven." And dress up a little bit, I have a new restaurant we should try." The blonde says enjoying the look on Callie's face as she is raking over her body in the short robe.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N Thank you for so many encouraging comments. It seems that you're having as much reading it, as I am writing it! **

Knocking on the door to Callie's apartment, Arizona is a little nervous and embarrassed after the previous night's events. Which is why she wanted to take her out to dinner at the new French restaurant. Dressed in heels and a cocktail dress she feels more in control of the evening, which she definitely needs.

"Wow!" Callie says as she opens the door. Arizona is wearing a gorgeous blue dress that totally sets off the blue in her eyes, her short hair hangs in big loose curls around her face.

"Wow, yourself, do you not have a mirror?" The blonde says smiling so big, her dimples are on full display. Callie is wearing a red dress that hugs her in all the right places. Stepping in close to her, Arizona cups her face and lightly kisses her.

"Thank you again for last night. You're amazing and very kind to look after me." She says looking into soft brown eyes.

"Well, I learned a lot about you and tequila last night. Let's just make sure you don't drink it without me next time." Callie says winking playfully.

"Oh god, that bad?" She asks dropping her head into her hand.

"Let's just say at one point, I was convinced that you had more than two hands." Callie says laughing.

"I was hoping that was just a dream and not a memory." Arizona says through her hands.

"Hey, it happens." Callie says pulling her hand away from her face. "Now tell me where are we going for dinner all dressed up?"

* * *

Maximilien is located downtown and has a beautiful view of the bay, Puget Sound and the mountains. Arizona timed it so they would arrive and be seated just before sunset. And she picked a French restaurant, so she could show off a little for Callie.

"What an amazing view!" Callie exclaims as they are led to their table. "We're going to have a perfect view of the sunset."

Beaming, Arizona waits for her date to be seated, then she let's the Maitre'd seat her as well.

The waiter arrives with two glasses of Champagne that the blonde had requested when she made the dinner reservation that morning.

"A Votre Sante!" Arizona says clinking their glasses together.

Watching Callie, she can tell that the brunette is enjoying this as much as she is.

"So do you speak French or just have the toast memorized?" Callie asks teasing but also curious.

Arizona smiles and then leans forward and whispers in her ear, "Je suis honoré d' avoir une si belle femme avec moi ce soir." (I am honored to have such a beautiful women with me tonight.)

Quivering, Callie says, "I'm not sure what you said, but I liked how it felt when you said it."

Laughing at the sexual tension, Arizona takes another sip of her champagne and playfully fans herself. "We may not make it to dinner at this rate."

"Shouldn't we have menus?" Callie asks, suddenly realizing that it's odd not to have been offered a menu.

"Uh, I may have already ordered for us." Arizona confesses.

"Really? Wow." Callie says laughing nervously.

"I hope that you don't mind, I just really wanted to take care of you tonight and you know, thank you again for last night." She explains.

"Well, I'm really intrigued now." Callie admits.

Looking up, Arizona nods and the waiter brings over the appetizer, it is roasted goat cheese with walnuts and honey, served with crostini, paired with a glass of chardonnay for each of them.

Watching the sunset together, Callie can't help but swoon a little over the blonde. She was a little worried after last night, that Arizona was too young for her, even though they are barely five years apart. But tonight, she's not worried at all, she's quite impressed that the blonde put this together on such short notice, and rather hungover at that.

"What are you thinking about?" Arizona asks softly.

"I am thinking about how you did all this with a hangover this morning." Callie says turning to look into her blue eyes.

"Ha, well I was pretty motivated to erase the impression that I made last night." She confesses.

"Okay, I will admit. I was a little worried about you after last night." Callie confesses.

"I knew it! Well, I would have been too." She adds laughing. "Thank you for giving me another chance."

"Well, you asked me to dress up, so that earned you another date right there." The brunette says flashing another smile.

* * *

After dinner they decide to walk along the waterfront, before heading back. It's getting a little cool out, so they decide to head back to the apartment. Arizona quickly calls a cab and they are back at their building by ten pm.

They already know that they both have to work fairly early the next morning, but Arizona insists on walking Callie up to her door.

Come in and I'll make coffee, Callie offers. Not wanting the night to end just yet, the blonde agrees.

"Make yourself at home," Callie says as they enter the apartment. "I'll just be a minute." She says as she turns to go make the coffee.

Grabbing her hand, Arizona pulls her back into her arms. "I don't want coffee. I want this." She says kissing her.

"Oh!" Callie says slipping her hands into Arizona's hair and deepening the kiss. "Much better than coffee." She says thickly.

Backing the blonde up to the counter, Callie reaches around behind her and pulls her closer. Arizona has one hand on her waist and the other on the back of her neck with her arm touching her breast. Pulling away to catch her breath, the blonde confesses. "If I don't go now, I won't be able to."

Callie looks at her trying to focus and catch her breath. "Damn, yes. You're right. Okay." She says pulling away from the blonde. "Thank you for an amazing night, Zo." Callie says closing her eyes and pressing her lips on the blonde's cheek.

"Thank you Calliope. I really enjoyed tonight. And I look forward to going out again soon." She says moving to kiss her one more time.

* * *

Mark is standing in the hall the next morning when Callie's door opens. He waits as she locks the door and turns around.

"Where's Arizona?" He asks.

"She didn't stay the night, if that's what you're asking?" Callie says annoyed.

"Oh, well when she told me about the date she had planned, I just assumed she'd still be around." He explains.

"She told you about the date?" Callie asks.

"Yeah, we're friends remember?" He reminds her.

"Hmm, right. I still don't understand how that happened." She says staring at him curiously.

"We have a lot in common." He says defensively.

"Now that really worries me." Callie says turning to leave.

"Hey, I'll walk over with you." He says locking his door,

* * *

Walking to work the next morning, Arizona checks her phone. Oops, she has missed calls from Nicole last night and a few text messages from Colleen, well she'll just have to talk with them and explain that she's seeing someone. Then she wonders if Callie feels the same way. It's really too soon to think of themselves as girlfriends, but they are definitely dating, aren't they?

* * *

Walking in with Mark, Callie can barely hold up her end of the conversation. She has spent so much time with the blonde this week, she can't remember what it was like before they met. Is it too early to think that we're dating? Callie wonders. I don't think she's seeing anyone else, so maybe we are seeing each other.

"Mark how do you know when you're dating someone?" Callie asks him.

"Well, when you don't want to date anyone else, I guess." He says shrugging.

"That's not helpful." She says as they enter the elevator.

* * *

Coming out of her first surgery, Callie gets a page to go to the front desk. "Hey, Stevens!" She calls to the blonde resident. "Go to the front desk and find out why they paged me. I've got to write up post-op notes."

Walking up to the front desk, Izzy sees a beautiful flower arrangement. "Uh, Dr Torres sent me, you paged her." Izzy says to the woman at the desk.

"Yes, these were delivered for her this morning. Can you take them too her?" She asks.

"Uh, wow. Yeah, is there a card?" Izzy asks.

"Right here." The woman points it out to her.

"Got it." Izzy says lifting the flower arrangement and glancing down at the card, but she already knew that arrangement wasn't from the hospital florist. This should be interesting, the blonde thinks as she gets on the elevator to go back up to Ortho.

"What is that?" Callie says as Izzy approaches with the bouquet.

"It's for you." She says pulling out the card and handing it to her.

Reading the card, Callie couldn't hide her smile if her life depended on it. "Okay, um, would you take those to my office?" Callie asks, slipping the card into the pocket on her lab coat.

"Sure", Izzy says, taking the office key that's handed to her.

Walking down the hall, she sees Meredith. "That's gorgeous! Did Alex send you flowers?" She asks confused.

"No, they're for Dr Torres." Izzy explains.

"Wow, who sent them? I didn't even know she was seeing anyone." Meredith says walking beside her friend.

"She has the card. I don't know who it is, but this is a nice arrangement." Izzy comments.

* * *

Walking over to the surgical board, Callie looks to see if Arizona is in surgery and she is in OR 5 and is probably about done. Hoping to catch her, the brunette walks quickly down the hall. And turns the corner, just as Arizona walks out of the OR.

"Hey." Callie says walking up to her.

"Hey Calliope. How's your morning?" Arizona ask, wondering if the flowers she sent have been delivered.

"Amazing morning so far." She says smiling at the blonde. "I was wondering if you were free tonight, I feel like cooking and I'd love to make you dinner." She says licking her lips nervously.

"Oh, well I am available tonight. Is there anything I can bring?" She offers.

"Just an appetite. I'll take care of everything else." Callie says leaning in, then adding softly "I'll thank you for those beautiful flowers later too."

Standing there trembling from having the Latina's body so close to her, Arizona reaches out and grabs her hand and pulls her close. "How is it possible for you to make me tremble without even touching me?" She whispers thickly into Callie's hair, smelling coconuts and lime.

"I'm not sure, but I intend to investigate the matter thoroughly." She says breathing in the smell of Arizona's rosemary mint shampoo.

* * *

Knocking on the door, Arizona takes a deep breath. She really wants to let Calliope know how she feels, but at the same time she is a bit freaked out by it.

Cristina opens the door and says, "Come in." And then walks away.

Coming around the counter, Callie says, "Cristina! Sorry Arizona, please come in."

"Hi." Arizona says leaning in to kiss her lightly. "It smells wonderful in here." She adds smiling.

"It's chicken piccata." She explains. "Come over here and I'll get you a glass of wine." She says gesturing to the stool in front of her.

Looking around, Arizona sees the flowers on the bar. No wonder they cost so much, that's an amazing arrangement, she thinks to herself.

"Thank you, this is nice. Is it a Pinot Grigio?" She says as she sips the white wine.

"No, it's a Viognier." Callie says pointing at the bottle.

"Hmm, I like it. Nice and crisp." Arizona says looking at the bottle.

"The winery is nearby, we should go out do a tour." Callie suggests carefully. Worried because that's kind of a thing you do with someone you're dating.

"Oh good idea. I haven't explored the area yet. Have you done a wine tour since you've been in Seattle?" The blonde asks.

"No, there was a regional wine tasting downtown that I went to with Erica, but we didn't like the same kinds of wines and well, in retrospect, that may have been one of the signs." Callie says reflecting a moment.

"Well, we have similar tastes, so we should totally take a wine tour." Arizona responds, pleased at the opportunity to suggest a weekend trip. Now she has to know that I'm serious about her, the blonde thinks.

Glancing up at the blonde, then quickly looking back down as she makes the salad. Callie is trying to contain her excitement, Arizona just suggested a weekend trip, that has to mean something. People don't plan weekend trips unless they are dating right?


	11. Chapter 11

"That dinner was delicious." Arizona says standing up to remove their plates.

"No, I've got it." Callie says reaching for them.

"Calliope, you worked all day, performed at least two surgeries, then came home and cooked this wonderful meal. Now you'll sit there and let me clean this up, okay?" Arizona says leaning over and kissing her softly.

"Well, since you said it like that, okay." She sits back and pours herself the rest of the wine.

Arizona looks around the small kitchen, having watched Callie earlier, she figures out where things go. And easily loads the dishwasher. As she shuts the door, she feels the heat of Callie behind her.

"Hey." She says turning around.

Callie, pulls her in tightly and presses her body against her, kissing her. "Sorry, I just can't wait any longer." She says thickly.

"Mmm," I'm not sure I can either." The blonde says wrapping herself around the brunette.

"Hey, not in the kitchen!" Cristina says walking into the living room.

"Why don't we go to my place?" The blonde suggests softly.

"Right behind you." Callie says, grabbing her keys off the counter as the blonde leads her out of the apartment.

* * *

Kissing in the elevator and then rushing down the hall to Arizona's door. She fumbles nervously with her keys as Callie nibbles on her ear. Finally, the door bursts open and they enter the apartment, laughing and kissing. The blonde kicks the door shut and Callie pulls her over to the couch, where they fall down together in a tangle of limbs, still kissing.

Sorting it out, the blonde works her way on top and pins the brunette down, carefully positioning herself, so her leg presses into Callie's center.

Callie unable to take it any longer, slips Arizona's blouse over her head and pauses to admire her sexy periwinkle blue bra, which the blonde quickly reaches up and removes.

"Damn, you have beautiful breasts," Callie says cupping them in her hands, as the blonde straddles her, she struggles to sit up, so she can kiss them. And manages to push the blonde back and take the top. Of course, Arizona uses it to her advantage and easily releases Callie's bra. Smiling the Latina slips her blouse off as the blonde, pulls the bra down her arms.

"You are so beautiful." Arizona says softly. Reaching up to gently rub her thumb across each erect nipple. Pulling herself up into a sitting position, so they are breast to breast, and each can feel the heat of the other's center.

"Bedroom." They say at the same time.

Arizona stops in the kitchen to grab two bottles of water as Callie continues down the hall.

Walking into her bedroom, Arizona is distracted when she sees Callie's jeans on the floor, followed by her matching red underwear. Pausing a moment, she quickly removes her own jeans and underwear and climbs into bed.

Callie quickly tops the smaller woman. "Mmmm, I could barely resist your cute little drunken ass the other night." She says thickly, "Now tonight, I'm going to do to you what I really wanted to do then." She says dipping her head down and teasing taut nipples. Her leg pressed against Arizona's center can feel how wet she is.

"Calliope, please..." The blonde says breathlessly as Callie teases her fingers down the side of her body, while sucking and teasing her breasts.

Adjusting her position, Callie moves her hand over to cup Arizona and gently slide her fingers in to explore her wetness.

Arizona gasps at the contact, but raises her body up to get more. "More, please." She gasps.

Slipping two fingers in and letting her thumb rest against her clit, Callie begins a gentle rocking motion.

"Oh god", Arizona says loudly. Encouraged, Callie begins kissing her way down the blonde's body. Pausing at her navel, to look up with dark brown eyes, she dips her head and touches her tongue to Arizona's center.

It's almost enough to bring her to climax, but the brunette has other plans. She slows down and then rebuilds the momentum with her tongue, pulling and sucking until Arizona suddenly comes undone. Crying out her name.

Quite pleased with herself, it is only the second woman, that she's made love to, Callie gently pulls up and lays alongside the blonde.

Trembling, Arizona looks over at her. "You look pretty pleased with yourself." She says breathlessly.

"I am pretty good at this." She says confidently.

"You are." Arizona agrees, trying to catch her breath. Then reaching over she grabs one of the bottles of water and takes a long drink, then hands it to Callie.

"Thank you." She says wiping her mouth and handing it back to her.

Suddenly, Callie finds herself on her back with Arizona straddling her. Bending down, the blonde breathes in Callie's ear and nibbles, then sucks on her pulse point.

"Oh my god" Callie exclaims, trembling at the contact.

Leaving a small mark below her ear, Arizona moves down to her breasts. Licking and sucking each nipple, she rocks gently on top of the brunette, slowly building momentum from the movement. Reaching her hands around her hips, Arizona lifts her up and slides her body down, until she is face first in her wet center.

Trembling with anticipation, Callie can't help but moan loudly. "Zo, please."

Entering her from behind, Arizona slips her fingers in and gently explores her wetness with her tongue. The contact is overwhelming at first and Callie doesn't know how to respond, if she arches her back the fingers pull out, but she gets more contact. Frustrated, she starts to cry out, when suddenly the blonde sucks and bites her clit, causing her to writhe and beg for more.

"God, Arizona...please don't stop that, more." Callie begs, her hands tightly clutching the sheet.

Adjusting her position again, the blonde moves up and kisses her lips. Confused Callie returns the kiss but then suddenly the blonde's mouth is back at her center, pulling and sucking on her as her fingers slip into and begin a rhythm again, this time there's no tempo change and Callie is so tight, Arizona can barely move her fingers, she sucks harder until she feels her climax. Waiting for her to relax, so she can remove her hand. Arizona carefully slides up beside her.

"I thought I was going to have a stroke." Callie gasps, closing her eyes as she continues to feel the little earthquakes trembling through her center.

Smiling, Arizona pulls her close and kisses her head. Holding her close while she tries to catch her breath. They both dose off for awhile.

Arizona wakes up first and checks the clock. It's just after 12:30 am. She gets up and goes to the bathroom. Then tiptoes out of the room, to get her phone. Somehow they managed to both have tomorrow off, so she turns off her alarm and sets her phone on silent. Pulling up the covers, she looks at the gorgeous woman asleep in her bed and let's herself swoon for a minute. She hasn't felt like this for anyone since her freshman year of college. That ended badly, but this, this feels like it could be amazing. She needs to just relax and see where it goes, she tells herself.

Callie wakes up and looks around, then remembers as she feels the blonde's body warm against her back. God she is amazing, she thinks as she drifts back off to sleep.

* * *

Waking up the next morning, Arizona realizes that she's being watched. Opening up her eyes, she sees Calliope's gorgeous soft brown eyes staring at her. As the blue eyes open, Callie can't help but smile. "We fell asleep," she says laughing.

"Why is that funny?" Arizona asks confused.

"It's not that it's funny. It's just we, um, slept together, all night." She explains.

"Not following." The blonde says waking up slowly.

"I don't sleep. I mean not in someone else's bed. Usually, I don't fall asleep. I just lay here for hours waiting until I can leave. But I fell asleep, like sound asleep." She tries to explain.

Finally understanding, Arizona smiles and her blue eyes twinkle, "That's because I am awesome."

"You are awesome." Callie says pulling her in and nuzzling her neck.

"Calliope, don't start that unless you intend to stay and finish it." Arizona warns her.

"I fully intend to finish it," she says moving on top of the blonde.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N hope you've enjoyed the updates tonight. This is the last one for tonight. I'm so frustrated by all the Tumbr posts reporting Callie and Dan actually are dating. I've already realized that the show will never be what I want it to be, which is why I write these fan fics. **

Spending their day off together, Callie and Arizona barely leave the apartment. Finally showering and getting dressed by late afternoon, they decide that they should go out for dinner. But don't really want to go far, so they head down the street to Joe's. Mark is going to meet them there.

Walking into Joe's they look around and Callie sees Meredith and Cristina, so she decides to go talk to them, while Arizona gets them drinks.

"I was going to say that you didn't have to leave last night, but looking at your face, I'm probably glad that you did leave.

"Shut it Yang." Callie says, "I just came over to ask Meredith about our patient. How is he doing?" Callie asks.

* * *

Arizona is getting their drinks, when suddenly she feels an arm circle around her. Looking up she sees Callie still talking with Yang and Grey, so she jumps back, to see Julie standing beside her. "Hey, I missed you." She says softly nuzzling the blonde's neck. "Where have you been?"

"Oh hey Julie. Well, you know, I'm uh, seeing someone." Arizona says turning around to face her.

Confusion clouds her face, "Yeah, you're seeing me, Arizona." She says sharply.

"Julie, no. We just went out. You know that we weren't dating, right?" The blonde asks her concerned now.

"Wait, who are you seeing?" She asks looking around and then sees Callie staring at them. So she moves in and cups Arizona's face and moves in to kiss her.

Backing up again, Arizona grabs her hand. "Julie stop. You need to leave." She says nodding towards the door.

Just then Callie having seen Arizona push her off twice, comes up behind her. "I think she very clearly asked you to go."

"Callie, I've got this." Arizona says, not wanting things to get messy. "Julie, I'm sorry if you misunderstood, but I clearly told you that I was seeing other people. But now I'm not. So please just go." She tells her one last time.

Finally more embarrassed than angry, Julie leaves the bar.

Taking a deep breath, Arizona turns around to face Callie. "I'm sorry about that," she says.

Reaching down and lifting the blonde's face up so she can see her eyes, Callie says, "Is that true? You're not seeing anyone but me?" She asks.

"Yes, Calliope. I hope that you feel the same way." Arizona says looking deeply into her eyes.

"Yes, yes." She says before kissing her.

"Hey, get a room. Jeez, I thought you all had come up for air finally." Mark says stepping up to the bar and staring down at them smiling. Then motioning to Joe he orders tequila shots.

"Mark, tequila? We have to work tomorrow!" Callie says cursing him in Spanish.

Arizona's eyes flash when she hears Callie speak Spanish. "Wow, that's um, really hot." She says nuzzling into her neck.

"You're really hot. But anymore tequila and I'm taking you back home!" Callie says joking.

Raising up her hand, Arizona asks Joe for three more shots.

"You are bad. Arizona Robbins. Very bad." Callie says downing the shot and dragging the blonde out onto the dance floor.

* * *

The next morning the alarm goes off and neither of them can find it. It would seem that the phone is in one of the pairs of jeans in a pile on the floor.

Arizona sneaks a foot out from under the covers and feels around trying to find the jeans. Finally Callie gets up, locates the jeans and throws them at the blonde and then goes to the bathroom.

Laughing Arizona pulls out the phone, turns off the alarm and then sets it on the table and plugs in the charger. Getting out of bed, she waits at the bathroom door, until she hears the shower turn on. Then she enters and slips in to the shower behind Callie.

Turning around, Callie bends down and kisses her. "We're going to be late, aren't we?"

* * *

Walking into the cafeteria for lunch, Arizona spies Callie sitting with Meredith and Yang. She takes her time getting a salad and then spots Colleen, then looks over and sees Noel. Quickly, she decides to dump her salad into a to go box and go back to her office to eat. It's safer. After last night, she doesn't want to risk anyone else pulling that on her, especially at work.

"Hey, I missed you at lunch." Callie says standing at her office door.

"I saw you with Grey and Yang, so I just decided to come back here and read up on this new surgery." She says holding up the journal to show her.

"Oh, well you know that you could have joined us, right?" Callie asks her.

"Callie, it's fine that you're friends with them. But I just don't feel right hanging out with them. I'm a department head and they're residents right now." She says trying to explain.

"Okay, I get it. Your dark blue and I'm still light blue, but you don't mind hanging out with me, right?" She says moving into the office and kicking the door shut behind her.

"No, that I don't mind at all." Arizona says standing up to meet her embrace.

Kissing her and moving to sit on the edge of the desk, Callie looks around her office. "I didn't realize that you have a couch in your office." She says mischievously.

"I like the way you think Dr Torres." Arizona says moving in for another kiss.

Suddenly there's a knock on the door, "Dr Robbins?" Alex Karev says from the hall. He heard voices, but unsure why the door is shut, he decides to knock first.

Opening the door, Arizona says, "Yes Dr Karev?"

Jackson's numbers are dropping, I think you should come in, Bailey is freaking out." He explains.

"Damn," She says rushing out behind him.

* * *

"Colleen?" Callie says shutting Arizona's office door behind her, "what are you doing up here?" Callie asks her scrub nurse.

"Uh, I was just looking for you, Dr Torres. Dr Yang said you might be up here." She says thinking quickly. Well, this explains why Arizona has not been returning her calls or texts.

"I was just finishing up. Is there a problem with the prep for our next procedure?" Callie asks as they walk back towards the elevator.

"No, no I just had a question about the procedure, sometime you use the Heiss kit on the shoulder replacement, but I wasn't sure on this one, since you sometimes use the Radison kit on smaller builds." The nurse asks trying to ask a real question, so Dr Torres won't figure out why she was really standing outside of Arizona's door.

It works in the elevator, Callie talks at length explaining the difference in the two kits and why she uses one instead of the other. Colleen nods as they head back to her office.

* * *

"These numbers are alarming, but they are to be expected. He's okay. But we do need to monitor him closely." Arizona explains to Karev and Bailey. "Repeat these every other hour until the creatinine level comes up." She instructs them before leaving them to handle it.

Walking out to the nurse's station, she sees that her door is closed. "I'm going to finish my lunch, let me know if anything comes up." She says to the charge nurse.

"Okay Dr Robbins." The nurse nods and Arizona heads back to her office.

Sitting down at her desk, Arizona picks up her fork and picks out a bite of her salad, then picks up her journal. As she turns it around she sees a post it stuck to the page. "C U 2Nite!"

Laughing Arizona takes the note and puts it the drawer of her desk. Then picks up her phone to text her, then remembers that she's headed into surgery and anything she texts, could be read out loud in the OR. Smiling, she sends a text anyway.

"Dr Robbins says, she needs to see you before leave today on a follow up on consult." the tech reads the text out loud.

Callie smiles, "Let her know I'll be there around 6 pm." she instructs the surgical tech.

A few minutes later, Arizona's phone beeps with Callie's response. She smiles, the response tells her that she is in surgery.

* * *

Rushing down to the pit after the 911 page, Arizona stops to get a gown and sees the trauma's coming in. She calls over to Meredith, "Grey what do we have?" She asks looking at the small body on the gurney.

"A school bus wreck, we have multiple injuries coming in, mostly children," she explains. "This is an unconscious 9 year old with a head injury, I've paged Derek." She adds.

"Okay, take her." Arizona says moving over to the next gurney. "Dr Robbins, 9 year old boy with fractured femur and multiple lacerations," Hunt says as she takes the gurney from him. "Go." He says.

"Hi, my name is Dr Robbins and I'm going to take really good care of you." She says to the child.

"Can I help Dr Robbins?" O'Malley says entering the trauma room.

"Oh, yes. He's stable, but let's get an x-ray on his femur, maybe we can set it without paging ortho." She explains.

"But Dr Torres is good, she can set that easily." George says proudly about his ex-wife.

"Dr Torres is in surgery Dr O'Malley, so please get the portable x-ray in here so we see if we can take care of it ourselves." Arizona says firmly. "I'll be back, clean up those lacerations while you're waiting on x-ray." She says leaving the room.

Stepping into the next trauma room, Arizona sees Yang working on another child. "What do you have Dr Yang?" she asks the younger doctor.

"Ten year old, broken right arm, possible concussion. I hear a murmur on the right side though, would you listen for it?" Yang asks her.

Moving over to stand beside her, Arizona places her stethoscope where Cristina's was and listens carefully. "Could be a torn aortic valve?" Arizona says, turning to yell out the door, "We need an ultrasound in here stat!"

The tech enters the room and quickly hooks the child up. Cristina and Arizona both watch the monitor, "Wait, did you see that?" Arizona asks Yang.

"Aortic stenosis," Yang says, taking over the wand, she moves it back over to look closer at the bicuspid valve.

"Okay, Yang take him up to the OR, I'll page Dixon to meet you there." Arizona says to the resident.

"Uh, just page Dr Bailey. Dr Dixon, is uh out today." Yang tells her.

"Oh, well if I can't find Bailey, I'll scrub in. Just don't start without an attending Yang!" She says firmly.

Turning around, she sees Bailey coming down the hall. "Dr Bailey, go with Yang." She yells.

Then turning around to Alex, she says Karev, follow me.

"O'Malley, do we have x-rays?" She asks entering the room, then seeing the films on the wall, she steps over to review them. "Its a clean break, Doctors, can you cast this fracture and continue to suture his lacerations?"

Both doctors go right to work and Arizona leaves and to check on the next patient.

* * *

It's eight o'clock when Arizona finally leaves for the day, exhausted, she pulls out her phone and sees a missed call from Callie. Then she notices the text message. "Let me know when you're out and I'll order dinner."

Smiling as she leaves the hospital, she hits call.

"Hey, are you done?" Callie asks as she answers the phone.

"Yes, and I'm exhausted. You didn't have to wait for me?" The blonde says.

"Just come to my place, I ordered Thai. Because well it's good cold and I wasn't sure when you'd be done."

"Calliope, I don't know, I ..." Arizona falters, she knows that she won't be good company tonight.

"Zo, just come over, eat and we can watch TV or go to bed. Just come over okay?" Callie asks sweetly.

**A/N get prepared for a time jump. Next chapter will be tomorrow evening!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Small time jump to Callie coming out to her father, I am loosely recapping this episode, because it's rather pivotal.**

"Is he here yet?" Mark asks Arizona as they walk down the hall.

"If you're asking about Calliope's dad, then I don't know, because I'm not going to meet him. We only just started dating Mark and it's way too soon." Arizona explains.

"And she's okay with that?" He asks.

"It was her idea." Arizona replies. "The man's here for one day and then he's gone."

Mark looks up in time to Callie come around the corner with her father. She looks annoyed, just trying to get through the visit, when she suddenly sees George, "Run, run George." She says trying to get him to look up before her dad sees him.

Carlos spots him and throws him up against the wall, "Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you right now. You committed adultery," he says angrily.

"Dad, who hasn't? I slept with Mark before I was divorced." Callie says trying to deflect his anger.

Mark, who was coming over to help George now stops dead in his tracks.

Carlos looks over at Mark, throws George to the ground and grabs Sloan and shoves him against the wall. "Now give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now?" He says angrily to Sloan.

"Mark Sloan, pleasure to meet you sir." Mark says trying to act like it's normal to have someone's Dad throw you against a wall and threaten your life.

"Daddy, Mark is my friend. And George and I both cheated. It's no one's fault." Callie says talking quickly, trying to get Carlos to calm down. "I'm happy now. I'm dating someone and I'm happy now." She adds.

Letting Sloan go, Carlos turns around, straightening his suit jacket. "You're dating again? That's good, that's healthy. I'd like to meet this new gentleman suitor."

Arizona watches all this unfold in front of her like a train wreck, she knows that she should leave, but she can't stop watching it.

Yeah." Callie says looking a bit panicked. Then looks over to Arizona, who quickly looks away. "No and uh, they're busy, they're a doctor here. But you will love them. They are smart and funny and both handsome and beautiful and supportive." Then pausing she looks down, then looking straight at him, she says, "Daddy, please be okay with this." And she turns to go get Arizona, who is trying very hard to just disappear behind them.

Grabbing the blonde, Callie marches her over to Carlos, "Dad, this is Arizona Robbins, this is who I'm dating now."

Carlos is slow to react, so Arizona sticks her hand out and says, "I hope you draw the line at throwing women against the wall, sir."

* * *

They are in the lounge and Callie is ranting back and forth from Spanish to English, "I told him that I wasn't looking for a relationship with anyone when I met you. And I told him that I am happy, that you make me happy." Callie is telling Arizona about the rest of her visit with her father. "Do you know what his response was?" She asks.

The blonde shakes her head, they haven't been together that long, but she knows Callie well enough to know that she needs to let her vent. But her pager keeps going off. Bailey needs her to help with a patient.

"He actually said to me, mija, were happy at home with your mother and me. Pack your things, I'll talk to the Chief and let him know. You'll fly home tonight with me." She turns back to Arizona, "He treated me like a child, like he could just pick me up and take me home and fix me."

Looking at her pager, Arizona sees that her patient has taken a turn for the worse and she really needs to get back, finally Sloan enters the room and Arizona looks at him, he watches Callie and listens to her Spanglish rant for a minute, then asks "What do you need?"

"I have a terminal patient... help?" She says, standing up nervously.

"Go, I've got this." He says as she slips out the door. Then walking up to the Latina, he says, "Hey. Snap out of it. Stop speaking Spanish. I don't know Spanish. And I've got surgery in 15 minutes. What's going on?"

"My dad is taking me home. He's making me quit my job and move home to Miami." Callie bursts out.

"What are you? Twelve? Tell him no." Mark says supportively.

"You don't understand Mark. He's paid for everything. My car, college, even med school. If I don't go, I have a huge trust fund and he's supported me my whole life. If I don't go, I lose everything." She explains.

"He may have supported you but he doesn't respect you Callie. Those are two different things. And you deserve both." Mark says pulling her into an embrace.

* * *

Up in the PICU, Arizona tells Bailey that their patient is going to die and they just need to try to help the young father understand, there's nothing left for them to do.

Bailey argues, but ultimately realizes that Arizona is right. Unfortunately the father isn't ready so he storms off and Arizona goes after him, leaving Bailey with the young girl. "Your dad will be right back", she tells her. Then sits down and pulls her into her lap and comforts her.

* * *

Arizona has no luck talking with the father. He's just not ready to accept it and there's not much she can do until he does.

Walking back upstairs, she hears Callie and her father arguing in Spanish in the lounge, so she waits just outside until Carlos leaves angrily, storming past her without a word. Slowly, she walks into the room.

"Callie what happened?" She asks softly.

"He gave me an ultimatum." She explains, "If I don't go home, he's going to cut me off. So I, um, I cut him off, " she says sinking down onto the couch. "I cut him off." She repeats stunned.

Sitting down beside her, Arizona asks, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I, uh, mean no." looking away and about to cry, she looks back at the blonde, who is also tearful.

Arizona pulls her into a hug and Callie bursts into tears.

* * *

In her office, Arizona sits quietly contemplating her day and all the chaos, when Bailey come in.

"I'm, uh, going home now. Do you need anything else?" She asks looking down. She's spent all day with the little girl, only to have her slip away right as the father comes back into the room. She emotionally spent and still has yet to talk to her husband about the Peds fellowship.

Arizona tells her how amazing what she did today was and won't let her minimize it. "You should tell him." She says as Bailey walks away.

"Tell him what? That I spent the day holding another child that wasn't my own?" She counters.

"No, you need to tell him that peds is more than cutting. What you did today was heroic, and you know it." Arizona says firmly.

"Okay, maybe I'll tell him that." She says as she slowly walks away.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: jumping around now, will try to keep basic sequence of events per canon so you can follow without whiplash :)**

"Cristina, Dad emptied my accounts and I don't think I can pay rent." Callie says frustrated. "I haven't heard anything. No one is talking to me, not my mother, not my aunt and certainly not my sister. I mean, I get it. He has all the power, so they have to take his side."

"Tell him you broke up." Cristina says as Arizona approaches.

"Well there's an idea." The blonde replies.

"You really think I should lie?" Callie says looking from Cristina to Arizona.

"Uh, I'm going to go now and let you ponder that suggestion," the blonde says walking away.

"I don't care. I just really think you should pay rent." Cristina says walking away.

* * *

Later, Mark walks up to Callie. "Hey, I got you a present?"

"Mark, you can't just give me money..." She says, secretly hoping that he's going to give her money.

"Oh yeah, no. That's not it. This is," he says opening the door to a trauma room. "She fell out of a tree and broke everything." He says smiling.

"Oh, wow, that is the best present ever." She says smiling.

* * *

Spending the whole day working on the young woman's broken bones gives Callie a much needed boost. Unfortunately, she feels so good, that she also volunteers for extra shifts in the ER to help pay her bills.

"Hey where have you been all day?" Arizona asks when she finally catches her in the locker room at the end of the day.

"I had a girl who fell out of a tree and broke everything!" Callie says excitedly.

"Oh, so good for you!" She says laughing.

"Well good for her, because I fixed her. Of course, she's just going to do it again. The climbing a tree part, hopefully not the falling out of the tree part." Callie says still high from the multiple surgeries.

"Well, are you done? Do you want to grab some dinner?" Arizona asks her.

"Oh, I do. But I'm just picked up a shift tomorrow in the ER. So early night?" She asks.

Disappointed, Arizona shrugs. "Okay, early night."

* * *

The next morning when the alarm goes off, Arizona starts to get up, then realizes it's her day off. So she shakes Callie and tells her to get up. Callie pulls the covers over her head and doesn't shut the alarm off. The blonde looks over at her and pushes her off the bed. Then buries herself back under the pillows.

"I can't even." Callie says getting up and glaring at her. Then realizing that it's her fault that she can't sleep in, she turns the alarm off leaves the room.

* * *

"Do you have time for lunch?" Arizona texts her when she finally gets up and around that morning.

"Maybe." Callie replies, still annoyed about this morning.

"Meet me in the park in 30 minutes?" She asks.

"Okay." Callie responds.

* * *

Walking over to the park, Callie smiles when she sees that Arizona is sitting on a blanket waiting for her.

"Oh, wow." Callie says surprised. "This is nice."

Leaning over to kiss her as she sits down on the blanket. "I thought this might make up for me kicking you out of bed this morning?" Arionza says playfully.

"It's a start." Callie says kissing her back. "But I did kind of deserve that." She admits.

"Yeah, you did." Arizona agrees laughing.

* * *

Back in her apartment, Arizona is finally unpacking the boxes that her Mom sent her. Mark is hanging out drinking a beer and they are talking.

Where did you get that?" He asks.

"This is a Nwantantay mask of the Bwa people of East Africa. I got it when I was a teenager." She explains.

"Wait, you went to Africa?" He asks surprised.

"Yeah. When I graduated med school, I applied for the Carter-Madison Grant to establish a clinic in Malawi." She explains.

"That's really cool." Mark says. "Shame you didn't get it." He says.

* * *

By the time Callie's shift is over. Arizona and Mark played XBox all afternoon and there's no beer left in Arizona's apartment, so now they are upstairs in Mark's apartment and Arizona is watching him cook them dinner.

"Hey, I just tried to call you." Callie says entering Mark's apartment surprised to see the blonde there.

"Hello Calliope!" Arizona says turning around. "Mark is fixing us dinner." She says, then feeling her jeans pocket. "Oh, I think my phone is downstairs on the charger." she explains.

"How was your shift?" Mark asks.

"It was fine. Have you guys spent the day together?" Callie asks.

"No, we had lunch remember?" The blonde says playfully.

"Yes, I do remember that." Callie replies, disappointed that Arizona and Mark spent the day together while she worked.

"This sucks. I hate working my day off." She says and walks out of the apartment.

"Wait!" Arizona says jumping up and running out to catch her, "don't go, I missed you today". She says grabbing her arm. Callie stops, but doesn't turn around.

Arizona turns the her around, concerned, "Calliope?"

"Look, I'm not good company tonight. You and Mark just have fun. I'm exhausted, so I'm just going to shower and go to bed." Callie replies.

Thinking for a moment, Arizona lifts up her chin and pulls her in for a kiss. "I've spent all afternoon with Mark and I'd rather this evening with you. Go shower, get comfortable and I'll bring plates over. Lexie will be here soon anyway. We can just eat in front of the TV and you can tell me about your day, okay?"

Nodding, Callie agrees and heads into her apartment.

* * *

"This is amazing. I usually hate that Mark cooks as well as I do, but tonight, it's kind of nice." Callie admits as they sit at the bar and eat dinner. "Are you sure you don't want a glass of wine?" She asks the blonde who is drinking water.

"I may have had a few beers this afternoon," she admits, "And I have to go in early tomorrow."

"Oh, shoot. I was hoping we could sleep in tomorrow. I don't go in until ten." Callie says pouting. "I hate this. I really hate this. It's so not fair, for my father to do this to me."

"Look Cal, he just needs some time to adjust to this. You threw him a curve. You've changed the game on him." Arizona offers trying to help.

"Your parents didn't react this way, why should I give him another chance?" She asks the blonde.

"But I was never into boys, I had a Cindy Crawford swimsuit poster on my wall in junior high. My parents knew who I was from the beginning. I never changed. When I brought a girl home and introduced them to her, they accepted it. Because I was never anything else. But you've changed the game and your dad, he just needs time to adjust. Talk to him again." She encourages her.

Sighing, Callie gets up and goes to her, kneeling in front of her, "I kind of hate you right now."

"Pulling her in for a kiss, Arizona teases, "Cause I'm right and I'm awesome."

* * *

Stunned Bailey can't believe what O'Malley is telling her. He's quit his residency and enlisted in the Army to be doctor and leaves tomorrow.

She tells Callie and they both are upset, fearing that George is not military material. Cristina finds out and she realizes that this is why Owen and George have been so friendly lately.

The residents are all freaking out, since they are waiting for Izzy to recover from surgery and now George left without saying goodbye to any of them.

Callie is very upset about George joining the Army and comes up with a plan to stop him she explains the plan to Arizona and Bailey, but Arizona throws her for a loop, when she says that George joining the military is awesome.

"Awesome? How is that awesome? It's suicide." Callie points out. "God, I don't even know you."

"I don't see things. Maybe I don't understand why you're mad at me or at George for leaving, but look I think George joining the Army to be a surgeon is awesome." The blonde says turning her around to face her.

"Um. You should probably shut up now." Callie says angrily.

"No Calliope." The blonde replies quickly, "you asked me who I am? I am the person who thinks what George is doing is brave. He's going to serve his country and risk his life for the men and women who protect us while we sleep safe in our beds. And yes, I happen to think that is awesome. When you stand on a tarmac watching them unload your brother's coffin..." she says trying not to cry, but failing, "all, all we have now is a flag."

Crying now as Callie tries to hold her, Arizona pushes her away. "My brother died because there weren't enough doctors to save him. And yes, I think George O'Malley is a hero for volunteering to go over there and as for who I am, I am the person who is grateful for men like George O'Malley. And yes I use the word awesome. It's who I am." She says turning to leave.

* * *

Fuck, Callie thinks. I am fucking this relationship up too.

"Callie, what's going on? I heard O'Malley joined the Army?" Mark asks entering the lounge, then noticing her tears, he sits down beside her. "Whoa, you're taking this harder than I thought you would. Come here." He says hugging her.

"I am probably taking it harder than I should." She admits crying into his shoulder, "and now I just had a fight with Arizona about it, which makes me feel like idiot. Her brother died over there because there weren't enough doctors and I'm sitting here bitching about my ex-husband wanting to go over there to help", she explains.

"Well, there are only losers in that argument." Mark points out sadly.

* * *

Knocking on the apartment door, Callie is nervous, what if she tells me to leave she thinks.

"Hi." Callie says when Arizona opens the door. "Can I, um, talk to you?"

Walking away from the open door, the blonde goes back inside and waits for her. Unsure about their conversation earlier, Arizona has no idea where they go from here.

"Look, I'm sorry. I was wrapped up in my own perspective and I just didn't even consider it from the other side. And you don't talk about it, so it's not real to me. But now, trust me. It's real, I'm just so so sorry, that you had to go through that and please know that I'd do anything, seriously, anything to make this up to you." Callie says tearfully, slowly approaching her.

"I-I know I don't talk about it. Its the hardest thing I've ever had to do, was to say goodbye to my best friend. Tim and I couldn't have been closer and I'm really sorry that you guys never met. I know you would've liked him. And I'm sure that he'd like you too. This whole thing, just brings up what I've lost again. So forgive me if I seem a bit distant right now. But I-I just need some time, Calliope. Some time to put this away again." She turns away as she talks and puts distance between them again.

Unsure, if she should try again to approach her, Callie pauses. Then seeing Arizona about to break, she moves in and wraps her arms around her. "I've got you." she murmurs into her hair as they sink to the floor.

* * *

The next day at the hospital, everyone is freaking out. The unknown patient that came to the ER the day before is George O'Malley and they are rushing him into surgery. He was hit by a bus saving a woman who had accidentally walked in front of it.

Arizona finds out about it and she rushes to find Callie. Cristina, Meredith and Alex are sitting in the resident's lounge in shock. "Where's Callie?" Arizona asks them, before running out to find Bailey.

She finds Bailey and Callie in the attendings lounge. Going to Callie's side, Arizona pulls her to her, "I am so, sorry. I just found out." She whispers to her.

"He, he died a hero anyway." Callie says sadly.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N sorry, I spent some time on youtube watching some of my fav parts of season 5/6 and got off track. Bringing this back around and forgetting about canon. Gonna get more real, from here on out, m'kay?**

"Look, I shouldn't be telling you this, but girlfriend trumps roommate, right? Cristina isn't interested in Peds, she's just trying to kiss up to you because of the merger. Everyone is afraid. Hell I'm afraid. I left Seattle Grace to go to Mercy West, only to find out they are merging." Callie is freaking out, now that she's got to ask Weber for her job back.

But Arizona is still stuck on the fact that the brunette just called said girlfriend. Am I her girlfriend, she wonders?

"Arizona, I can't just ask for my job back after I yelled at him and walked out?" Callie says grabbing her arm to make sure she's listening to her.

"Uh, sure you can. And he'd be stupid not to give you another chance, but you have to ask for it, Calliope." Arizona points out, rejoining the conversation.

"Okay, let's talk more later. I need to get back." Callie says quickly kissing her goodbye.

* * *

"Hey, you're here early." Callie says when Arizona comes through the door of her apartment.

"We need to talk." Arizona says suddenly.

"Uh, okay." Callie says waiting for the blonde to continue.

"Earlier today, you called me your girlfriend. Is that what we are, girlfriends?" She asks.

"Uh, yeah of course." She replies before pointing out, "You did just walk right into my apartment where I am fixing us dinner after work, that pretty much screams girlfriend, doesn't it?" Callie asks confused as to why this is a big deal.

"Okay, I was just checking." The blonde says pausing before looking up and stating clearly, "Then my answer is no. No you don't get to move to Portland for a job. I don't do long distance relationships. What you are going to do is march your ass right into Weber's office and ask for your job back." The blonde says leaning in to kiss her. "You don't want to mess with me." She says sweetly.

"Oh well okay." Callie says a bit overwhelmed by that unexpected rant from the blonde.

* * *

"No Mark it's totally bullshit. She just needs to talk with the Chief, he will hire her back, she's a talented surgeon, but she's going to have to apologize for being an ass. And she needs to do it soon. I'm sick of listening to her gripe about it." Arizona unloads her frustration on Sloan over beers at Joe's.

"Where is she tonight?" Mark asks, "I thought she was going to meet us."

"On her way supposedly." Arizona says annoyed.

"You know what we need, is a shot. Joe, tequila please." Mark says holding up two fingers.

"What not getting one for me?" Callie asks sliding up between them and bending down to kiss the blonde.

"Don't be mad, I'm just a little late. It's traffic. You don't know how good we have it here, not having to drive to work." She says lifting the blonde's pouting face up and giving her another kiss.

"So you didn't talk to Weber yet?" Arizona says reaching for the shot of tequila and glancing at Mark.

"First, let's toast to all having tomorrow off." Mark says raising his shot.

They all clink glasses and down the shot.

"Except I have to go in tomorrow." Callie says setting her empty glass down.

"Awesome." Arizona says, signaling to Joe for more tequila. He refills the glasses and Mark and Arizona lift theirs and toast again. "To us having the day off together." She says clinking glasses with Sloan.

"That's just mean." Callie says scowling at both of them. She turns back around and Arizona hands her the other shot.

"Since you have to work, I wasn't sure if you wanted this." She says trying to be funny.

"Come here." Callie says shoving her purse and jacket at Mark and grabbing the blonde's arm and pulling her out to the dance floor.

"Callie, I can't dance with you." Arizona groans.

"You can and you will." Callie says pulling her in close and swaying her body against the blonde's.

Starting to feel the tequila, Arizona begins to move with her. "I'm sorry you have to work tomorrow." Arizona whispers into her ear.

"I have a meeting with Weber tomorrow at 11 am. I'm not going in to work." Callie informs her.

"Oh god, I'm such an ass." Arizona says, stopping to look at the Latina.

"You are, but this time, I understand." Callie says pulling her close again.

* * *

Waking up together in Callie's bed the next morning. Arizona groans, "Me and tequila may need to break up." She says opening up one eye to look at her girlfriend.

"Don't look at me, I told you to slow down. Now don't get me wrong, I don't mind when you're drunk on tequila, mi pequeño pulpo". Callie says mischievously.

"I usually like it when you speak Spanish, but I'm pretty sure that I don't want to know what you just said." Arizona says eyeing her suspiciously and sitting up.

Walking around the bed to get her clothes from the floor, Callie says, "I'll go put coffee on, go ahead and get in the shower, you'll feel better."

Grabbing Callie's robe from the back of the door, Arizona walks down the hall to the shower. The hot water does feel good and by the time Callie joins her, she feels much better. "Hey!" The blonde says as Callie slips into the shower.

"Oh, is someone feeling better?" She asks seductively.

Moving to wrap herself around the brunette and spin her around so she's under the water, the blonde kisses her deeply. Callie pushes her back to the wall, "Hmmm, what I could do to you if we had more time and hot water." She says thickly.

"I have plenty of hot water downstairs, maybe you should come by later after your meeting." She breathing hard into Callie's ear and as sucking on her neck, careful not to leave a mark.

"I will do that, but first I'm doing this." She says moving her hand down to slip a couple of fingers into Arizona's slick center.

"Mmmm," Arizona moans as Callie plunges deeper.

"You feel amazing, I love being inside you." Callie whispers in her ear.

"Cal, I-I'm so so close."

"I know babe and you're about to come undone for me aren't you."

"Ohh god, Ca-lli-ope." She says trembling, then trying to catch her breath. She pulls Callie tight.

"Its okay, take your time, honey."

"Damn, the water is getting cold." Arizona says suddenly.

"Okay, well, I need to get dressed soon anyway." Callie says softly into her ear.

* * *

Nothing like making your girlfriend scream your name before heading into an important meeting. Callie thinks as she walks down the hall to the conference room. Only to be stopped by Patricia, his secretary. "Dr Torres, Dr Weber was just called away to an emergency Board meeting, he asked if you could wait an hour, unless you'd like to reschedule."

"I can wait. Thank you." Callie says sitting down in the reception area.

"Hey what are you doing up here?" Yang asks surprised to see her roommate, since she works across town now.

"I'm meeting with Weber, I'm going to ask him for my job back." Callie confesses.

"I figured you would be in the shower all day with blondie." Cristina snarks.

Jumping up to whisper to her, Callie says, "I thought you were at work!"

"Are you kidding, they probably heard her all the way in the parking lot!" Yang says annoyed.

"Well it's not as if I haven't heard things from your room." Callie replies.

"The bathroom is right next to my bedroom Torres." Yang points out and walks away.

* * *

"Are you sure that he's on his way?" Callie hates to ask, but she's been waiting two hours now and there's still no sign of Weber.

"I'm not sure." Patricia confides.

"I'm going to run down to the cafeteria and get some lunch, just call me when he's available." Callie says writing her number down and handing it to her.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Meredith says when Callie sits down at the table with her and Alex.

"I'm waiting to meet with Weber." She explains.

"Good, about damn time." Alex says taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"I wish you could do a consult for me." Meredith says, "I have guy with a broken ankle and the ortho we have now, just wants to pin it, but you could do so much better. I've seen you."

"Oh well, I can do a consult. I still have privileges here." Callie says excited to be doing something besides waiting.

* * *

Slipping into the locker room and grabbing a pair of light blue scrubs, Callie quickly changes and carefully hangs her dress up on the outside of the locker. Ransacking Cristina's locker she finds a pair of shoes that she can wear and then heads out to meet Meredith's patient.

"Oh yeah, this is what I can do. Look, we can insert a pin here, then another one here, this ligament can be reattached, then we wire this, so he can still flex it." Callie quickly explains the procedure to Meredith.

"Excellent, I knew there was another option, than fusing the bones together." She says happily. "Can you do it today?

"Oh, let me check on something first." Callie says stepping out into the hall to call Weber's office. Still no sign of him, so then she calls Arizona. No answer, so she leaves her a message. "Hey, I'm still waiting on Weber, he got hung up in a board meeting, but while I'm waiting I just caught a surgery. So I'm sorry, but I'm going to be later than we thought."

"Okay, let's do this. Callie says nodding to Meredith.

* * *

Back from her run, Arizona always tries to run off hangovers, it somehow puts things back into balance, she thinks. She checks her messages and listens to Callie. Damn it. She was really hoping that she'd be back in time to shower again. Well, if she's not coming home. I may as well go to the gym and work out too, she thinks. Grabbing her keys and phone, she heads downstairs to the gym in their building.

* * *

"Hey, I didn't expect to see you here today." Sloan says as she enters the gym.

"Same here." She says nodding to him.

"Lexie got called in today." He explains.

"Callie still isn't back from meeting with Weber, apparently he got tied up in another meeting and now she's in surgery with Meredith." Arizona explains.

"Well, that's good. He'll see that she's still a team player." Mark says pointing out the bright spot of the situation.

"She better not mess this up, Mark." Arizona says annoyed, as she adds more weight and adjusts the seat on the leg lift.

"Hey, hey take it easy or your quads are going to be huge." He says waiting for her to lower the weights and he adjusts the stack for her.

* * *

Completing the surgery, Callie checks her phone. One message from Arizona that just says, "Ok call me later."

Heading back into the locker room, Callie changes clothes and decides to go back up to Weber's office. It's late and she should try to reschedule the meeting.

Patricia's desk is empty, so Callie looks around for a note pad, then looks up and realizes that Weber is in his office.

"Chief?" She says standing at the door.

"Oh Torres, I'm sorry I kept you waiting, I should have just rescheduled." He says tiredly.

"No problem, I rebuilt an ankle while I was waiting, so you know it was time well spent." She jokes.

"Torres, why don't you come back tomorrow morning and go to HR and tell them you're the new Ortho attending." He says turning around to face her.

"Really? Thank you Chief and you know, I'm so sorry about those things I said." She apologizes.

"It's fine, I don't mind your passion for your job, but it would be nice if you saved the theatrics for private and not in front of the whole hospital." He says gently admonishing her.

"Understood, sir. and Thank you." She says turning triumphantly to pump her fist.

* * *

"Arizona? Arizona? Are you here?" She asks entering the apartment with her key.

"What are you doing?" Callie asks as she enters the bedroom to find her girlfriend half asleep on the bed with ice on eye.

"Accident at the gym." She explains, sitting up. "Did you see Weber?"

"I did, I have to go in tomorrow morning to talk with HR." She says slowly.

"HR? Why is he making you take anger management class or something?" Arizona asks sarcastically.

"HR so I can do new paperwork, you're looking at the new Ortho attending!" She says excitedly.

Jumping off the bed, Arizona gives her a big hug. "That awesome Calliope, I knew it. I just knew that it would work out if you asked him."

"Actually, I didn't even have to ask. He apologized for keeping me waiting all day and I told him that I rebuilt an ankle while I was waiting and next thing you know he told me I was rehired and promoted to attending!"

"I'm so proud of you. We should celebrate." She says, then catching a look at the swollen knot on her face, she adds. Soon, we should celebrate soon."


	16. Chapter 16

"I still can't believe that Mark talked you into a boxing lesson. Arizona, he has twice your reach." Callie says still annoyed every time she sees the bruised face of her girlfriend.

"We weren't sparring, he was just showing me some moves, but I moved left when I was supposed to go right." She explains.

"Whatever, do you have any idea how hard boxing is on your hands? No surgeon in their right mind would take up boxing, so please no more, okay?" She asks.

"Don't worry, I'm done with boxing." Arizona says wincing again as she looks in the mirror.

"Hey, I need to run upstairs and change. But I'll see you at lunch today, right?" Callie asks as she heads over to the door.

Following her to the door, Arizona says sarcastically, "if I can still see."

"Funny." Callie says kissing her goodbye.

* * *

"Mark what did you do to Dr Robbins' face?" Lexie asks when she sees him that morning.

"It was an accident, at the gym. We were working out. What did she tell you?" He ask defensively.

"All she said was Mark and tequila don't mix." Lexie says laughing.

"She did not. We were at the gym, sober!" He says pouting.

"I know", she told me. "I just wanted to tease you." Lexie says playfully.

"Well it's not funny. I'm a plastic surgeon and I almost broke her face." He replies seriously.

"For the record, I have no interest in boxing." Lexie says as he pulls her close.

"Noted." He says kissing her.

"Ahem." Yang says from the door of the lounge.

"Little Grey, we just got assigned to the pit, come on." Yang informs her.

* * *

After going to HR and getting her new badge, Callie stops and orders her new lab coats, then picks up the new dark blue scrubs, which she immediately changes in to, after moving her things from the resident's locker room to the attendings'.

Leaving the locker room, she runs into Derek. "Hey those look good on you, welcome back." He says smiling at her.

"Thank you." She says as they walk down the hall together.

"Hey Torres!" Bailey calls out. "I just wanted to see for myself. You are back and you're an attending. About time."

"Thanks Miranda." Callie says.

"Now what happened to Arizona's face?" Bailey says pulling her aside. "Oh wait, never mind, I probably don't want to know."

"Mark hit her." Callie says and Derek whips his head around.

"Mark what?"

"Mark and Arizona were at the gym yesterday boxing, for some unknown reason, and he accidentally hit her, I think. I mean, I wasn't there, I was here, in surgery. But she's fine, just bruised. I looks bad though doesn't it?" Callie asks turning to Bailey.

"What was he thinking, he could have hurt her seriously?" Derek says still shocked. He knows first hand what it feels like at the other end of Mark's fist.

"Derek, she's fine. And believe me, she's not going to try boxing again." Callie says trying to calm him down.

* * *

"I should have taken the day off." Arizona says sliding into the seat beside Callie.

"Is that all your having?" Callie asks, watching her girlfriend sip on a smoothie, "Oh my god Zo, that looks really bad, I told you to stay home today".

"My jaw hurts okay, I'll admit it." Arizona says annoyed as she tries to move her face, wincing at each attempt.

"It should, Zo, it's swollen as hell. Are you sure there's nothing fractured? That's a lot of swelling."

"She needs a CT, Arizona come on. Let me check that out for you." Derek says walking up to the table.

"Derek, thank you but no. I'm fine." Arizona says sitting back down.

"Robbins!" Weber bellows as he approaches the table. "Go with Shepherd and get a CT, that looks terrible. I can't have a surgeon walking around here looking like that. Then take the rest of the day off. Bailey will cover for you."

* * *

"Hey, I didn't hit her that hard. I'm telling you nothing's broken." Mark says walking into the CT.

"Maybe not, but she does have a slight concussion. And look at this?" Derek says showing him the x-ray that they did first.

"Okay, so its a hairline fracture. It will heal on its on. As long as she doesn't take another hit to the same spot." Mark admits.

"Arizona get up. I'm going to take you home." Mark says entering the room.

They slide her out of the CT and he takes one look at her.

"Oh shit." He says, then turning around. He asks Derek, "did you do an MRI?"

"I don't need an MRI. I just need to lay down and put ice on it. And if I ever get out of here, that's what I'm going to do. It's not a big deal you guys. Just stop." The blonde says loudly. Then winces, "Damn, even yelling hurts."

"Fine, okay. But I'm taking you home now. Let's go get your stuff", he says helping her up. "Page Torres and let her know." He says to Shepherd.

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Callie asks, sliding into bed beside the blonde.

"I'm bored as hell. I can't read or watch TV or I get a headache." She says pulling her earphones out, so she can talk to her girlfriend.

"Let's just order pizza and hang out tonight." Callie suggests, then examines her face, "The swelling is down, it looks much better."

"I told Bailey that I'm working from home tomorrow. I linked in today to follow my cases and I'm going to do two consults tomorrow by Skype. I can't believe this, one minute I'm lifting weights the next minute Mark talks me into boxing, then I'm flat on my back." Arizona says still annoyed.

"Well, I'm just glad that you're okay. Derek says it is a hairline fracture, so please be careful until it heals. Should I get you a helmet?" Callie asks sweetly.

"Now who's the ass?" Arizona says getting up off the bed.

"Hey, I was just teasing!" Callie calls after her. "But I'm so buying her a helmet." She says to herself laughing.

* * *

"Can't I just put makeup on it or something?" Arizona asks.

"Arizona, there isn't enough make up in this apartment to cover up that bruise." Callie says, standing behind her at the mirror. "One more day and I swear, I'll stop and buy some kind of super cover stick at the pharmacy so you can go to work tomorrow," she promises.

"Please don't forget. I went down to get my mail yesterday and I thought, Mrs Harper was going to call 911 for me. It took me 10 minutes to explain that it was an accident."

"Well, I have to admit. I don't want to be seen with you and have some one think I did it." Callie says joking, but not joking.

"Well, I am really sick of this apartment, but at least I have downloaded more TED Med talks, you may want to listen to these, they are really good. One is this fetal surgeon, she's in LA, I wonder if Addison knows her. Oh, maybe I'll call her and find out." Arizona rambles a bit, watching Callie get ready for work.

"You can stay up here today? Cristina won't care if you play her Xbox." Callie offers.

"Cristina won't what?" She asks as she enters the room. "Oh damn, that looks really bad," she says then laughs, "We need to get you a helmet!"

Callie laughs, then catches herself when she sees how annoyed Arizona is by the helmet comment again.

* * *

"Hey," Mark says entering the apartment. "Jesus, that looks horrible. I'm so damn sorry Arizona." He says again.

"Mark, stop apologizing. It was an accident, you told me to fake left and I went to your left." Arizona reminds him.

"You should see how people look at me know. Its not fun, being the person who knocked little miss sunshine on her ass, let me tell you."

"Call me little miss sunshine again and we'll match, you ass." Arizona says annoyed at him.

"Okay, okay. But seriously, I'm glad that its getting better. Because I can't have you walking around the hospital looking like I beat the hell out of you."

"Don't worry, Callie is going to buy some concealer so I can cover up the bruise, now that the swelling is down, it's not as noticeable." She says moving her jaw freely.

"Not noticeable to you maybe, but it still looks bad from here," he remarks. "Hey I'm heading back, do you need anything?"

"No, I've got to get ready for a consult in 10 minutes, thanks for coming by Mark, really." She knows how hard it is for him to look at her right now, but they both know it was a fluke. She went the wrong way and smashed right into his fist. Good thing he had a glove on, or it would have been worse and they both know it.


	17. Chapter 17

_**A/N so I just booked next week in Mexico and I'm thinking, hey the ladies should take a vacation!**_

"Four nights, five days in Mexico. Callie, come on." Arizona begs. "It's an all inclusive resort, look let me pay for this vacation and you get the next one."

"Arizona, do you really think I can take a week off right now? I just got promoted to attending." Callie tries to reason with her, but does like the thought of them taking multiple vacations.

"But you'll go if we can get the time off?" Arizona asks.

"Big if, the hospital is in the middle of merger, Zo it's not the best time to leave." Callie points out.

"Actually, I don't agree. There's extra staffing right now and we know our jobs are safe, we just signed contracts. This will give Weber an opportunity to figure out who he wants to keep." She argues.

"Yeah, but then we have to work with them without any input." Callie counters.

"I don't care. I'd rather see you in a bikini than worry about who's on staff. If they suck, I'll get rid of them." She explains.

"Don't get me wrong, you had me at bikini..." Callie says moving closer to the blonde and slipping her hands under her t-shirt and leaning over to kiss her.

"I think you're changing the subject." Arizona says reaching out to pull her closer and deepen the kiss, "I'm not opposed, not opposed at all." She says as Callie takes her shirt off and kisses her way down the blonde's body.

Suddenly the door opens and Cristina and Owen enter arguing. "You're taking advantage of my position and I can't allow it." Owen says angrily, glancing over to the two women on the couch. Then glancing back when he realizes that they've interrupted them.

"Not on the couch, Callie. How many times do I have to tell you?" Cristina says after she turns around to find Arizona putting her shirt back on.

"We'll leave." Callie says standing up.

"No, I'm leaving. This is pointless. Cristina is dangerous and I can't be apart of it." Owen says turning to leave and slamming the door behind him.

"Whatever." She says, then turning to Callie and Arizona, "You'd think that I had killed someone, instead of saved them."

"Cristina, this is serious. Owen is the Chief of Trauma, you can't just do want you want, you need to get his approval." Callie says trying to help her understand the position that she puts Hunt in when she pulls these stunts.

"He needs to hire a new Cardio Chief then. Because I refuse to standby and wait for him to figure out if I'm right, when I know that I am and the patient is dying." She says trying to explain her position.

Not wanting to get involved, Arizona slips on her shoes and heads for the door.

"Where are you going?" Callie asks confused.

"I'm going to grab a shower. Come get me when you're ready to eat." The blonde says letting her know that she understands that Yang may need to talk.

"Okay, but we're not finished Zo. Nothing is decided." Callie says hoping that the blonde isn't going to sneak off to go buy tickets to Mexico.

* * *

"Zo?" Callie says entering her girlfriend's apartment. "You didn't have to leave." Callie says as she walks back towards the bedroom and sees Arizona asleep on the bed, her laptop is open and the Skype app is blinking that someone is calling.

"Arizona!" Callie says a little louder.

"What? Oh, you're here. What time is it?" She asks confused.

"It's almost nine, sorry I'm so late. Did you eat?" Callie asks.

"No, I took a shower and must of fallen asleep." She says glancing at her computer, then quickly closing the lid.

"You're not going to see who that is?" Callie asks reaching over to open the laptop again.

"I, uh, know who it is and I don't need to take it right now." The blonde says shutting the computer again. Its so late, maybe we should just eat the left over Thai and go to bed. What time do you go in tomorrow?"

"I have to go in at seven." Still curious about who is Skyping her girlfriend at 9 pm on a Tuesday, Callie decides to let it go for now. "I'm not really that hungry so leftovers are fine with me. I'll go get it ready." She offers, quickly kissing the blonde and leaving the room.

Several minutes later the blonde enters the room and Callie hands her a plate and a glass of wine and they sit together at the counter and eat in silence. The brunette stares at her willing her to talk.

"It's Jess, my ex. She's coming to Seattle and asked to stay at my place next week." Arizona says finally.

"You never mentioned her, but then you haven't mentioned any exes. How recent an ex?" Callie asks.

"We broke up when Tim died and then just were off and on." Arizona admits.

"So you were together three years?" Callie asks trying to figure out the timeline.

"Together two and broke up but still seeing each other for three," she admits carefully.

"Oh." Callie says looking up, trying to gauge what the blonde wasn't saying.

"Does she, uh, does she know that we, that you have a girlfriend?" She asks finally.

"Yes, she does." Arizona says looking straight into the soft brown eyes of her girlfriend. "She's coming out to interview for a teaching position at the University."

"So you met in college, was she your professor?" Callie asks dropping her fork and wanting to focus. Arizona hasn't been very forthcoming with many details from her past.

"She was a professor, but not mine." Arizona clarifies. "If it makes you uncomfortable and I totally get why it would..." Arizona starts to say.

"How long is she staying?" Callie asks.

"Arrives Tuesday and leaves Thursday."The blonde says clearly.

"Why don't you stay with me and let her stay here. Then she doesn't have to sleep on that horrible hard couch of yours." Callie suggests.

Smiling at her girlfriend, Arizona is relieved, that is the perfect solution. "Awesome, Cal. I'll call and let her know."

"Why don't you go get your laptop and let her know now. I'd like to meet her." Callie encourages her with a big smile.

"Okay." Arizona jumps up and comes back a few minutes later with the laptop, sitting it on the counter so they can both see it. She then clicks the Skype tab and it opens up and she clicks on the missed call.

A few minutes later a woman with brown hair and glasses comes in clearly on the screen. "Zo! Oh my god, your hair is so short!" The woman says greeting the blonde.

"Yeah" Arizona says running her fingers through her short curly locks, "Hey Jess, I want you to meet Callie Torres, my girlfriend."

"Oh right, hi Callie." Jess says looking over at the beautiful Latina sitting beside her ex. "I've heard a lot about you, great to have a face to put with the name."

"Yeah, same here." Callie says trying not to show how confused she is and upset.

"Yeah, she's a tough one to get to open up, but if it helps, I think you'll get there." Jess adds trying to be helpful.

Unfortunately, this just makes things worse, because now Callie has realized that Arizona has been in regular contact with her ex and hasn't mentioned it. That's weird, right? She thinks.

"Yeah, I'm not sure if I can get off in time to pick you up from the airport, but you can take the metro to the hospital, our building is just down the street." Arizona explains. I should be able to leave by the time you get here, unless I have a late surgery, of course. But I'm sure we can figure that out. I can give one of my residents a key if nothing else. "

They chat for a few more minutes and then sign off. "Thanks Callie, I'm glad to have that figured out." Arizona says leaning over to kiss her. Callie just sits there a little stiffly.

"Oh wait, are you upset?", the blonde asks concerned.

"You've told her about me, but I know nothing about her." Callie points out. "What are you not telling me?"

Biting her lip, Arizona considers how to approach this topic. "Jess and I were married in Massachusetts and technically are still married, but only in that state, which neither of us live."

"Wait, what did you just say?" Callie asks again, certain that she could not have heard the blonde correctly.

Taking a deep breathe, Arizona sees the confusion and anger in Callie's eyes.

"So at what point were you going to tell me this Arizona?" She asks, her voice low and angry. "I told you that I was married and divorce, that wasn't a good time for you to maybe share, 'Hey Cal, I am married too.'" She says standing up, she cannot process anything sitting still.

"Are you planning to get back together? Am I just a way station or something for you, while the two of you figure your relationship out? You know Derek did that to Meredith and Addison and well, I am not doing that."

"What am I to you Arizona? Can you at least tell me that?"

"You are my girlfriend Calliope. She is my ex-girlfriend, we never really were wives to each other. It was a mistake. We were young and dumb. I told you that I've never lived with someone and I meant it. I may have omitted some things, but I have not lied to you." The blonde says moving to try to stop the brunette from pacing for a minute.

"Nothing has changed between us. Calliope, we're still us." She adds.

"You're married Arizona, that changes everything. I-I'm not doing this right now. I need to go. We can, uh, we can talk tomorrow." She says clearly upset.

"Calliope, please don't go. Let's talk about this." Arizona says crossing the room to catch her before she leaves.

"I need some time to think about this." The brunette tells her, then looking up for a moment, she takes a breath and continues, "You know, I try to tell myself that you'll open up to me, but honestly this is disappointing. Two months and now you're just getting around to telling me about your wife!" Callie says running out the door.

Stepping back into her apartment and shutting the door, the blonde just slumps to the floor, her back against the door. "Damn, I have really fucked this up," she says to herself.

* * *

"You look like shit," Mark says walking up behind her at the coffee cart the next morning.

"Yeah, thanks for noticing," the blonde says sarcastically.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and says something is up between you and Cal, if her door slam this morning at 5 am was any indication," he says pulling the blonde aside. "What's going on?"

"My ex is coming to visit next week and Callie freaked out." Arizona says carefully.

"No there's more to it." He says after pausing to think about it a minute.

"I may have failed to mention that I was married to her." She admits.

"You've been married and divorced and didn't mention it? Yep, that'll do it." Mark says, then looking at the blonde's face. "Wait, you're not divorced? Oh shit Zo, you've really fucked this up. Not telling her that is huge." He says concerned.

"I don't even know if I can help you with this one. Shit." He says looking down at her again.

"I can explain, only the states that allow same-sex marriage allow divorce, but most of them don't allow divorce unless one or both of you are a resident. We both lived in Maryland, so we can't get divorced in Massachusetts unless we live there." Arizona explains.

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of." He admits. "What about other states that allow same-sex marriage, do they recognize your marriage?" He asks.

"Most do, but it's not legal here yet and Jess still lives in Maryland, so we can't get divorced." Arizona explains.

"Did you get a chance to tell Callie any of this?" He asks.

"No. I know that I should have told her, but it's only been two months. I'm only her second girlfriend, I just wasn't sure how long this would last with her, you know?" Arizona replies.

"Uh, I don't recommend using that argument with her," he says seriously.

_**A/N Betcha didn't see that coming!**_


	18. Chapter 18

"Seventeen year old, burns on his legs, shoulder dislocated and possible broken right ankle." The EMT says opening the doors of the rig as she see's Arizona waiting.

The blonde moves quickly to help get the gurney out of the rig and she moves quickly to get him into the trauma room, "Page Sloan and Torres now!" She yells, the waves for Alex to come assist.

Immediately Alex begins cutting off the kids pants to assess the burns, "Mostly second degree on the upper legs, third degree here." He says trying to figure out how to remove the partially melted sneakers.

"Get that x-ray in here now!" Arizona yells out the door.

"What do you have?" Callie asks Karev as she enters the room, pausing slightly when she sees Arizona.

Ignoring the look from Callie, Arizona reaches out to push her aside, so the portable x-ray can be moved in. "Out, out" She says to Callie and the nurse. "We need to get these x-rays now."

Unsure what is going on between the two doctors, Alex moves out to the hall and begins to fill Callie in on what he knows so far about the patient. They stand aside and watch as the tech sets up the x-ray. Mark joins them and Alex repeats what he knows so far.

Looking from Callie to Arizona, Mark takes a deep breath and tells Alex to get a few things for them so he can debride the burns.

As the tech pushes the x-ray out of the room, Callie rushes back in and begins examining the ankle, while Arizona tries to assess him for additional injuries.

"I'm going to confirm on the x-ray, but I think he's going to need a few pins in this ankle." Callie says looking up at the blonde, before moving up to where she's standing to assess the shoulder.

"He's not burned here, so I can pop this back in now." She says looking over to Arizona and then Mark.

"Any signs of inhalation?" Mark asks.

"No lips and face are clear, I got a chest x-ray just to make sure though." Arizona replies to Mark.

"Dr Robbins, can you assist me?" Callie asks as she moves to get in to position to relocate the shoulder.

"Alex put the films up!" Arizona calls to him as he walks in with them. "Wait! Dr Torres, look at his clavicle."

"That's not right, how can?" Callie mutters to herself and goes back to feel along the clavicle and then finally she feels the fracture that she sees on the x-ray. "What do we know about what happened. How did he get crush injuries, impact injuries and burns?" Callie asks moving to the door and waving the EMTs over.

"What happened to this kid?" She asks.

"Not sure, it looks like he was doing a skateboard trick through a flaming hoop. The police were talking to his friends and I think there's video of it." The EMT explains.

"Okay, I'm going to wait on this dislocation. I want to get him up to CT and get a contrast on this shoulder before I do anything." Callie explains.

"Give him another 10 of morphine, we're going to debride these burns and get them cleaned up before you take him Dr Torres."

"His lungs are clear." Arizona says, leaving the room to go find the parents.

"Your son is seriously injured" she tells them, before outlining his injuries and the potential surgeries he's going to need over the next few hours. "Dr Torres is the best Orthopedic surgeon in Seattle, and Dr Sloan is an excellent plastic surgeon. He's in good hands right now and we'll need you to fill out these forms. Drs Torres and Sloan will be out shortly to talk with you." She explains before heading back into the trauma room.

"Dr Sloan if you're good, I've got surgery in 15 minutes. The parents are signing consents now. Are you good?" She asks him before leaving.

"Dr Robbins, do you have a minute?" Callie asks following her out of the room.

"I don't actually." She says turning around. "Can we do this later?"

"Do you want to do this later?" Callie asks her.

"Yes, please." Arizona says softly to her.

"Okay, I'll check with you when I'm done." Callie says looking anywhere but into those blue eyes.

* * *

It's almost seven thirty when Arizona finally heads to the locker room to shower and change back into her street clothes. She really isn't up to talking with Callie tonight, she wishes that they could just eat and snuggle on the couch tonight, but that's probably not going to happen. Sighing, she opens her locker and pulls her phone out of the pocket of her lab coat.

"Today sucked ass, I can't do this tonight." Callie says when Arizona calls her.

"I can't either. Are you still here?" She asks her.

"I just walked out the front door." Callie admits.

"Maybe we can just grab a bite at the cafe and then go home?" Arizona offers.

"Okay, do you want your usual? I'll just go ahead and order."

"Yes, that would be great. I'm on my way."

Walking into the cafe, Arizona stops to admire how beautiful Callie looks tonight. Then making up her mind, she walks right up to her and says, "I'm an idiot. And I'm sorry. But we can talk about that tomorrow. Tonight, I really just want to have dinner with my girlfriend." She says taking Callie's hands and bringing them up to her lips.

"I hated being mad at you today. It was confusing as hell. But tonight I just want to be with you. I'm still mad at you, but I can't not be with you." She tries to explain.

"Okay, so we have dinner and then go back to the apartment and sleep. We try again tomorrow?" Arizona suggests.

Nodding, Callie leans over and kisses her softly.

* * *

That night in Arizona's bed, exhausted, they lay silently just trying to drift off to sleep.

"I researched same-sex divorce and I get why you're still married." Callie offers finally. "I still need to know why you didn't tell me before now. And we don't have to discuss it tonight, but I need to let go of this or I can't sleep." She explains.

Laying flat on her back and looking up at the ceiling, Arizona says softly, "I just didn't know how to tell you that I was married, when I've never felt married. I thought it would be a big deal to you and I didn't want it to be." She says simply.

"Would you ever consider marriage for real?" Callie asks her.

"I don't know. I know that I imagine building a life with someone, so I guess if marriage becomes actually legal, not just in a few states, then yes, I would consider it." The blonde explains.

Lifting her head up and propping up on her elbow, Callie looks at the blonde and kisses her. "Good night Arizona." Then rolls over.

Arizona wraps her arms around the brunette and pulls her close, pushing her face into her hair and whispering, "Good night Calliope."

* * *

Waking up the next morning in an intimate tangle of limbs, Callie lays there just looking at the blonde's peaceful sleeping face. It's hard to stay angry with her, she thinks, but I really need for her to open up more. How is it possible to feel so close to someone that you hardly know.

"Don't think so loudly." Arizona says waking up slowly, opening up one eye, then the other.

"That makes no sense." Callie says moving to get in a better position.

"I can feel your body gets tense or something, when you're thinking like that." Arizona adds trying to explain.

"Hmm, that maybe makes sense," that almost makes sense, Callie admits, then rolls over to get out of bed.

"Wait," Arizona says reaching out to her. "Can we talk a minute?"

Turning around to look at the blonde, more than a little confused, Callie says, "okay."

"When we first met, you told me about George and then Erica, then Mark." Arizona begins. "It scared me. Callie you have this huge heart and you fall hard and fast for people, I was scared to be one of those people. So I haven't been very open with you and I'm sorry. I just didn't feel like I could trust you, trust that about you, I mean."

"But you trust me now?" Callie asks.

"I do. Yesterday was hard, but at the end of the day you still wanted to be with me, even though you were hurt and didn't understand, so yes. I trust this now. But I've wanted to trust it this whole time. I shut down after Tim died and I just haven't let anyone get this close to me in a really long time. Jess is the only person, besides my parents, who knew me before, so I trust her a lot, even though we didn't work out, we still have this connection and probably always will. But please know that what I have with her is nothing like what we have, it was never this." Arizona explains with tears streaming down her face.

Pulling the blonde to her, Callie kisses her and wipes away her tears.

"What we need is a few days off to really spend time together. Let's look at our schedules and see if we carve out a few days, what do you think?" Arizona asks her.

"I love it, but we better get up or we'll both be late for work." She says leaning over to give the blonde another quick kiss.

"It wouldn't be the first time, you know." Arizona says playfully.

"Don't do that!" Callie says tossing a pillow at her.

"What did I do?" She asks innocently.

"I'm going upstairs to shower, you're impossible." Callie replies, "We can't be late, we have a meeting in an hour, Arizona." She reminds her.

"You're loss Calliope, but I thought you were a better multi-tasker than that."

"You're going to regret that remark, tonight." Callie says pulling her shirt over her head. "See you in 44 minutes!"


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Let the lesbian processing begin! Hopefully, this will help those not happy with AZ after the last chapter. I have to admit, if you haven't lost a sibling, you may not understand this kind of grief. And maybe since I have, I'm not very good at explaining it. But I'm taking another pass, to see if I can dig deeper to help you all get where I'm going with it. **

"Jess?" Callie approaches the tall brown haired woman carefully. She's tall and thin with glasses, but still sporty, her brown hair pulled back, friendly green eyes glance around, probably looking for the blonde.

"Calliope, it's good to finally meet you." She says moving in for a hug, ignoring Callie's outstretched hand.

"Arizona was pulled into a late surgery. I've got her keys, I can take you to her place and get you settled." Callie decided to do this on her own, Arizona gave the keys to Lexie and asked her to do it.

"Are you done for the day? Maybe we could get a drink and talk?", she suggests noticing the doctor is in street clothes.

"Oh, okay. Actually, I am done, let me run back to my locker and get the rest of my things," Callie says, quite curious to talk with Jess.

"Okay, we can drop your luggage off at the car and then walk over to Joe's. Arizona may be able to join us, I let her know where we're going. She's almost out of surgery." Callie explains nervously.

* * *

"How did you two meet, may I ask?" Jess says as they sit down at the table.

"Here actually. She followed me into the bathroom. I was upset that night, we hadn't even met yet, but she was very sweet to me, that night. Then a week later, I finally got up the nerve to ask her out and she said no." Callie says laughing.

"She said no, when YOU asked her out." Jess asks, then laughs. "Classic Arizona, she doesn't know how to react when she's not the one chasing."

"Oh, well she said she doesn't date newbies. And to be honest, I couldn't blame her. I had just broken up with my first girlfriend the month before and it was messy, she was a doctor at the hospital too."

"Wow, okay that does explain it. Arizona doesn't do messy. After we broke up she didn't even date anyone. And she hasn't really gotten close to anyone, that I know of. And up until six months ago, I was the same way. But then I met someone and the next thing I know, Arizona is gone. She moved to Seattle without even telling me." Jess explains. "She changed her phone number and Skype was the only way I could get a hold of her. It's just a fluke that this job came up at the University. I've been working on a research project and trying to get funding and just accidentally found out about the program here and applied for it." She explains.

"My partner isn't too wild about relocating to Seattle, but I couldn't not come out here to explore the program. I am a cellular biologist and I'm working to understand how adaptins move through the body, there are four ways recognized right now, but we've been working to identify a fifth way." She says reaching for her beer.

"Oh wow, so do you teach or are you in research?" Callie asks her.

"Both, although lately more research as we're getting close to identifying the new pathway." She says finishing off her beer. "I'm going to get another, you?" She asks looking over to the bartender and holding up her bottle.

Joe comes over with another and also sits down a new drink in front of Callie. "Thanks Joe." She says without looking up.

"I'm sorry, the whole newbie thing, that is my fault." Jess explains taking a sip of the fresh beer. "I was her first newbie and I was an idiot. The first year we dated, I almost got back together with my boyfriend and she was devastated. But I was just scared, dating men your whole life and then suddenly falling for a woman is a bit tough to process, as I'm sure that you know. Plus my parents weren't very understanding, although now I think they like her better than they like me." She explains, laughing a bit.

"Okay, but then you got married?" Callie asked. "Sorry, I'm still trying to understand that part of her life."

"I wanted her to move in with me, but she wouldn't do it. We took weekend trips to Boston all the time and two of our friends were getting married and I was upset. By this time, we'd been together almost two years and even though she had just finished her second year of residency and her first year of Pediatric residency, I was relentless. I thought if we got married, then she'd finally move into my place and we could be a real couple, but it didn't happen. "We get married in Boston, fly to Costa Rica for a long weekend and then we come back and everything goes to hell." She explains, taking another long drink off the beer.

"Have you met Nick?" Jess asks suddenly.

"Nick?" Callie asks shaking her head.

"Nick was Tim and Arizona's best friend from high school. As soon as Nick shows up, Arizona disappears on me. I didn't see her for three days. I was going crazy, finally I called her parents and that's how I found out that Tim died." She says sadly remembering that dark time.

"I had to see her, so I drove down to Virginia and went to the funeral service. When she saw me, she ran away. I-it almost broke my heart to see her so, so broken. I was afraid. But Nick pulled me aside and told me to go back to the house and wait for her. I sat on the porch and drank a gallon of ice tea, but she finally showed up and climbed into my lap and cried. Callie, losing Tim broke her and it took her a long time to get back to this. And you played apart in that." Jess tells her.

"Me? How did I help? She barely talks about any of this, I didn't even know about you until last week." Callie admits.

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Zo shuts down when she needs to process things. She may disappear on you, then suddenly reappear and she's fine. You have to give her space and time, you can't push her or she'll run on you." Jess explains, looking up in time to see the blonde walk through the door.

"Hey, Callie you didn't have to do this." Arizona says sliding into the chair beside her girlfriend and kissing her cheek. "Good to see you Jess, now you haven't told her all my secrets have you?" Arizona asks smiling, though both of them see the smile doesn't reach her eyes.

Reaching under the table, Callie takes the blonde's arm and laces their fingers together.

"Should we just get food here?" Callie asks looking at her watch.

"Let's go back to my place and just order a pizza." Arizona suggests wanting to get out of the bar, before she has to introduce Jess to everyone that they know.

"Okay, sure. Here's your keys back, if you want to get the car, we'll tab out and meet you out front." Callie suggests.

* * *

Back at the apartment, Callie decides to let them settle in and she goes up to her place to change.

"So you talked to her, after I told you to stay out of it?" Arizona says to Jess as soon as Callie leaves.

"Zo, she really likes you and she wants to understand. You have to trust her." Jess says walking over to the blonde and taking her hands.

"You don't even know her, how can you tell me to trust her?" Arizona asks, pulling away.

"I see the way that she looks at you and I'm telling you to trust that," she explains.

"I'm going to order the pizza and take a shower," the blonde says walking back to her bedroom.

* * *

"Hey are you okay?" Callie asks, sitting on the bed waiting for Arizona to get out of the shower.

"I'm fine. I don't know what she told you, but she had no right to interfere." The blonde says stepping into her closet to get dressed.

"Arizona, I understand that you're a private person. But there are things that you can't or won't talk about and I want to understand, I need to understand that part of you, even if we don't talk about it. I care, I care so much about you." Callie says, her voice breaking.

* * *

Stepping back into the room, the blonde looks at her girlfriend sitting on her bed and she goes to her. Kneeling in front of the Latina, she reaches up and pulls her to her and kisses her softly. "Okay Cal, it's okay. I'm sorry. I will do better, I promise, we'll talk. Its not that I don't want you to know, it's just that its hard for me to talk about it." The blonde says trying to explain.

Nodding, Callie stands up and pulls the blonde up with her and embraces her.

Pulling away, Arizona wipes tears from her own eyes and then says, "We should probably go out, the pizza should be here any minute."

* * *

The rest of the evening is lighter, as Jess and Arizona talk about some of their friends, Arizona apparently left behind quite a circle of friends when she abruptly moved to Seattle. Jess asks Callie about growing up in Miami and then about the Peace Corps. Jess and Arizona exchange odd looks, when the talk turns to Botswana. Callie makes a mental note to ask the blonde about that. After a few hours, Callie and Arizona leave to go upstairs.

Getting ready for bed, Callie takes a minute to compose herself. It's been an interesting evening and in some ways she feels like she knows the blonde better, but in other ways she feels like she doesn't know her at all. Sighing, she heads back to her bedroom.

Arizona is already in her bed, laying on her side, so Callie slips in behind her, unsure what to do. She lays on her back a moment. Then to her surprise, the blonde rolls over and snuggles into her, resting her head on her shoulder.

Looking down, Callie smiles. It's not much, but she'll take it as a sign that Arizona is going to try. Bending down, she kisses her head and then closes her eyes.

"It was a Wednesday. As soon as I saw Nick, I knew something had happened to Tim." She whispers. Callie feels the tears on her chest, but doesn't say anything, she just waits for her to continue.

"They give you a flag. You give them your brother and all you get back is a stupid flag. It was a long time before I could see a flag without crying. After you watch them unload your brother's flag covered coffin and then endure the full Military service for him, flags everywhere, it's uh, hard to not associate flags with the loss of your brother." She explains.

* * *

The next morning, Callie wakes up alone, a few minutes before her alarm. She sits up in bed and finds a note from Arizona, she got up and went for a run. Surprised, Callie goes into the kitchen and sees that the blonde set up the coffee pot for her before she left. Hitting the button, she turns around and heads into the bathroom to get ready for work.

"Hey did you not sleep?" Callie asks, when she walks into the cafe and sits down.

"I slept great. Just woke up early and didn't want to wake you, so I went for a run." The blonde explains.

"You mean, you woke me up and made me join you for a run." Jess says complaining. "Look, I need to head back and get cleaned up, I have to be at the University in a couple of hours." She says standing up to leave. "Good to see you Callie, I hope that you both will let me take you out to dinner tonight?"

Looking over Callie tries to read her girlfriend's mood, then remembers "I am on-call tonight, so we'll just have to see how it goes," she explains.

"Zo?" Jess touches her shoulder to get her attention. "Dinner?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm not on-call." She replies, reaching over to squeeze Callie's hand. "Hey we need to go, so good luck today." Arizona says standing up suddenly and leaning over to give Jess a light embrace.

"Okay thanks. I'll check in with you later? And Callie, I really hope you can join us. But I do leave early tomorrow, so if I don't see you tonight, I want to thank you for taking care of this girl." Jess says standing up and moving over to hug her.

"Oh, wow. Yeah, Jess thank you. I will." Callie says genuinely returning the embrace. The whole visit when way better than she expected. "Good luck today and don't be a stranger."

* * *

Callie can't believe how much lighter Arizona seems today. At one point, Callie ran into the her on the open stairway and to her surprise the blonde playfully stepped in front of her to block her way and then kissed her.

"Hey, what is that for?" Callie asks surprised.

"I don't think its a secret any more and we're both attendings, so now I'm just going to kiss you whenever I want." She explains, kissing her again before rushing off reading her pager as she runs.

Looking up Callie spies Cristina above her observed the whole exchange.

"That's new. Great it was bad enough I had to see that at home, now you're doing it at work." Cristina grumbles.

Callie just beams one of her thousand watt smiles.

"How are you and Owen?" Callie asks her.

"There is no me and Owen." Yang says walking off.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: I don't know who started this thing with Callie owning the t-bird, but it is certainly fun to have in the arsenal of surprises. And totally fits her and her childhood. **

"No camping. I know you were in the Peace Corps and all that but this girl doesn't do camping." Arizona says as the sit in the park having lunch, still trying to figure out where to go, now that they've arranged to have 3 days off together.

"Wait, okay. How about a rustic spa, it's about a 45 minute drive?" Callie suggests showing her the website on her tablet.

"Oh, that looks perfect." Arizona practically squeals.

"I'm booking it." Callie says looking at her one last time.

Nodding, Arizona leans over to kiss her. "See we can hike and enjoy nature, but still have a bed and a hot tub."

"And a massage. I'm booking a couples massage too. Oh and a winery tour." She says excitedly.

* * *

The weeks after Jess left, the two women have grown closer. Callie though still not wild about Arizona being married, understands better now and is letting it go. Eventually, it will be legal and then we can sort it out, she reminds herself.

It's been almost six months now that they've been together and the last few weeks have been really good. Arizona hasn't talked a lot, but she had definitely made an effort to be more open. Often sharing things with Callie as they lay in bed about to drift off. Other times, Callie may wake up and find Arizona gone, out for a run, which usually means that she didn't really sleep.

Now they are finally going to go away together and Callie hopes the change of scenery will help Arizona open up.

* * *

"Hey, so I may have kept something from you, but it's so cool. I think that you''ll forgive me." Callie says as they head down to the parking garage.

In Callie's parking spot is a smaller car and it's covered up, Arizona looks at her. "You bought another car? We barely drive now, why would you want two cars?" She asks with a confused look on her face.

Setting her bags down, Callie walks over and grabs the car cover and folds it back to reveal a baby blue 59 Thunderbird, completely restored.

"Are you kidding me?" Arizona ask dropping her bags to help lift the cover off the car.

"Callie when did you get this? I don't understand..." Arizona begins to ask.

"I got it when I turned 16, it's my first car." She explains.

"Wait, you're telling me that your overprotective father bought you a classic car for your 16th birthday?" She asks.

"Yes and now I want us to drive it up to the resort. The weather is going to be clear, believe me I checked." Callie adds.

"Wow, yes. Of course." She says turning around to go back and get their bags as Callie opens the trunk.

* * *

Leaving just after rush hour on a Thursday morning makes for an easy drive to the resort, but as soon as they get on the 405 they hit construction, but it allows them time to talk. The first part of the trip, Callie talks about growing up in Miami and how much she hated the luxury and wealth, which is what motivated her to go into the Peace Corps.

"What motivated you to go to med school?" Callie asks, suddenly realizing that she has no idea, even though she's talked about the Peace Corps and how it motivated her to go to med school, Arizona has never told her why she went.

"Africa. I went to med school so I could go to Africa and help the children there." Arizona says simply.

"Glancing sideways at the blonde, unable to decide if she's being serious or pranking her, Callie waits to see if she'll continue.

"When Tim was 12 and I was 11, Dad was sent to Camp Lemonnier." Arizona begins, looking over at the brunette, who nods, she's actually been there. The Peace Corps has a two week training there before they take you to your post.

"We lived there for nine months while Dad was training. Mom volunteered at a local relief center and I begged her to take me, I wanted to see the real Africa and finally, she did. Tim and I went with her on a Saturday and we saw kids smaller than us, and they were dirty and sick, but they laughed and smiled. They thought we were weird because our hair, our eyes and our skin were so different from theirs. It was an eye-opening experience, even for two military brats who had an unusual sense of the world community. Seeing Africa changed both of us. It was Tim's goal to be assigned to Camp Lemonnier, he went through a lot of extra training and he got so close. He was on a short list for the assignment before, before he was killed." She says softly. Tears in her eyes, she turns to look away and is quiet for a few minutes.

Callie reaches over and squeezes her knee. The blonde turns back to her and smiles sadly.

"Have you ever gone back to Africa?" Callie asks.

"Yes, I went there before med school. My mom and dad arranged it, through a relief agency. I was there for 2 months. Then I came home and started med school." Arizona replies, then asks "Have you ever heard of the Carter-Madison Grant?"

"Oh yeah, that's the one that everyone wants, right? Unlimited funds if your proposal is accepted. It's really competitive. I looked into it, because I had thought about going back to Botswana, but then I discovered Ortho and the dual residency all but kicked my ass." Callie replies.

"Wait, Arizona did you apply for a Carter-Madison?" Callie asks, suddenly realizing that is totally something the blonde would do.

"I did. I completed my proposal submission right before I interviewed with Weber. The committee meets in January to review the proposals," Arizona adds.

"Oh my god, that's really impressive. Do you think you have a chance? I mean, of course you do, or you wouldn't have submitted, but wow. What was your proposal? Callie asks.

"I proposed a freestanding, self supportive clinic in Malawi for women and children. The clinic will have it's own water treatment facility, lagoon and a small garden for fresh fruits and vegetables. The staffing will hinge on three year fellowships and work in accordance with Doctors Without Borders and the World Health Organization. Ideally it will serve to train physicians for both of those organizations." Arizona explains.

"Wow, three year fellowships. That's a long time." Callie remarks.

"Part of the grant allows for a fifty percent school loan repayment upon completion of the three year program." Arizona says proudly, she knows that will make a difference for many young doctors.

"I don't even know what to say. So the African masks in your apartment are yours, not Tim's?" Callie asks.

"They belonged to both of us. We both went to Africa and collected masks. I didn't know that Mom was going to send them all to me. It really threw me, which is why I didn't want to talk about it when you asked." The blonde explains.

"Okay, I understand." Callie says, then looking up she sees the sign for their exit. "Hey, we're almost there!" She says moving into the exit lane.

* * *

"Oh my god, this is gorgeous!" Callie says as they drive up to the front. Looking at the valet carefully, she pulls him aside and talks privately with him. He steps away and gets on his radio and Callie waits patiently. Suddenly an older man walks out and begins speaking to Callie in Spanish. She hands him her keys and then brings him over to introduce him to Arizona. "Esteban, this is Arizona. Arizona, Esteban is practically family. I've known him my whole life," She says reaching out to hug him again. "He broke my heart when he met a sweet lady from Seattle and married her, so I followed him out here." Callie says teasing, "How is Sandra?" she asks.

* * *

"Wow, Esteban is a friend of your Dad's?" Arizona asks, trying to understand the connection, Callie obviously adores the man. "Because he and your Dad are total opposites."

"Esteban and my father came here from Cuba together. They started a business together, but Dad wanted more, so he sold his part of the business to Esteban and then invested the money into real estate. Esteban stayed with the car repair shop that they started and he was always around, he's like an uncle to me really. I have only visited him once up here since I've been here." Callie confesses.

"Wait, did he restore your car?" Arizona suddenly realizes why it was so important that they drive the t-bird up now.

"Yes, when Dad bought it, it wasn't as nice as it is now. As soon as I drove it over to Esteban's shop, he immediately made me promise to let him fix it properly. And he still takes care of it. He has a place in town and that's where I leave the car when I'm not using it, I mean let's face it a convertible in Seattle is almost pointless. If it's not raining, its too cold to have the top down." She laments.

"Well, I have to admit this trip was a really good idea." Arizona says pulling the Latina in close and kissing her. "And this room is amazing, look at that fireplace?"

"We maybe got a room upgrade, after I called and told Esteban that we were coming." Callie admits, flashing a mischievous smile.

**A/N: Okay be honest about what you think about the direction this is taking. Is it making sense, believable?**

**I work tonight, so won't post any more until tomorrow. Thanks everyone, I love the investment you all have in this story!**


	21. Chapter 21

**_A/N: Thanks for all the ideas and feedback. Just had time to write a short one before vacation, work has been crazy this week. I'll write more when I get back, hope you enjoy it!_**

* * *

After dinner that night, they came back to the room and found blankets laid out in front of a roaring fire and a bottle of champagne chilling beside it, on the table was a plate of chocolate covered strawberries. Surprised, Callie looked over at the blonde, who smiled and took her hand and led her over to the fireplace.

"Calliope," she said pulling her in tightly, their faces just a breath apart, "I have a confession to make." She said kissing her lightly on the lips, then moving to her neck. "I am falling in love with you." She whispered thickly into her ear.

Waking up the next morning naked and wrapped around Arizona, Callie realizes that it wasn't a dream. She sees the bedding in front of the fireplace, the empty Champagne bottle and around her neck is the gorgeous yellow Tourmaline necklace that Arizona gave her last night. Her words still echoing in her head, "This is to remind you that you are the sun that brightens my every day and I love you."

Suddenly, she can feel the blonde begin to stir, so she nuzzles her ear and nibbles it gently. Smiling, Arizona moves so she's on her back and they are now face to face.

"Good morning, Calliope." She says, reaching up to caress her face.

"Good morning, Arizona." Callie replies, leaning in to kiss her.

Deepening the kiss, Arizona threads her hands into those raven black locks and pulls her in tight. Callie hooks her leg around the blonde and Arizona moves her leg forward. The brunette gasps as she wraps herself around her and the blonde easily moves on top of her. Continuing to kiss deeply, their bodies rock together until they are both aroused and wet, they each move a hand down into the other's center and after a few minutes, they are both gasping and moaning.

"Oh my god," Callie moans, about to come undone.

"Ah, ah, yes. Yes." Arizona exclaims as she climaxes with her.

"Uh, wow. I don't know if I could wake up like this every morning, but I'd be willing to try." Callie says, her brown eyes flashing mischievously.

"Mmmm," is all the blonde can muster.

"I love you." Callie says taking her hand and kissing each finger.

"I love you too." Arizona replies, still breathing hard.

* * *

They actually fell back asleep after that and when they woke up the second time, they managed to order brunch from room service before getting in the shower. Each wearing one of the hotel's fluffy robes, they move the cart in and decide to eat on the balcony. It's going to be a gorgeous day and the sun is just warm enough to allow them to eat outside.

The phone in the room begins to ring, so Callie goes and answers it. "Hola Esteban. No puedo agradecerles lo suficiente por todo lo que has hecho. Estamos teniendo un tiempo maravilloso! Si podemos. Usted muy amable . Muchas gracias."

Looking at the brunette, Arizona waits for her to tell her what is going on.

"That was Esteban. I thanked him for everything and told him he's done too much, but he insists that we go to the spa today and he has taken care of everything." She says crossing the room to sit down again.

"Oh my god, really?" Arizona replies equally surprised. "What should we do?"

"Have you ever had a Detox wrap?" Callie asks, handing the brochure to her.

"Oh, that sounds amazing." Arizona replies. "Let's call and see when they can get us in!" She adds excitedly.

* * *

Waking up Sunday morning the two women feel amazing, so rested and relaxed from their weekend together.

"I can't believe how amazing I feel." Callie says laying awake that morning. I don't think I've ever felt this good." She says rolling over to stare into deep blue eyes.

"We need to remember to do this at least once a year and by that I mean monthly." Arizona says smiling sweetly.

"Oh my god, that would be incredible." Callie admits. Reaching over, she can't help but caress the blonde's pink lips with her finger before kissing them.

"Callie, thank you for choosing this hotel, it was beyond perfect. As much as I wanted to go to the beach, this was probably the best weekend that I've ever spent." Arizona says as she pulls her down into a kiss.

"Mmm, I would have to agree." The brunette replies.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Mexico was amazing. I went diving and although it scares me terribly, I love it again. Oh and I'm taking advantage of the break to time jump, though not a crazy time jump like the GA writers just threw at as last week. Okay, here's a short one to get us back into it...**

"Arizona, I don't understand. Slow down." Callie says into the phone. "Where are you?"

"Stay there. I just finished surgery. I'll be right there." Callie nods to the tech to hang up her phone and she heads out of the operating room ripping off her gown and mask. Stopping just a moment to scrub out and grab her lab coat.

The elevator doors open and it sounds like there's a party on the Peds floor. Callie pushes her way through the crowd towards Arizona's office and then suddenly she's pulled in by the blonde.

"What are you celebrating?" Callie asks.

"I won the Carter Madison grant!" Arizona informs her. "I'm going to build my clinic in Malawi!"

"Oh my god!" Callie screams lifting her up and kissing her. "I'm so proud of you Zo!"

* * *

The next morning, Arizona wakes up first and its all she can do to let Callie sleep, there's so much she hasn't gotten to tell her about the grant.

"Are you watching me sleep?" Callie asks, opening one eye suspiciously.

"I am." Arizona says softly, snuggling and kissing her softly. "Callie, you know that I love you?" She asks.

Callie nods, but doesn't speak, because she realizes that Arizona is leaving for Africa for three years.

"I didn't get to tell you that I'm leaving for Africa in three weeks, but I'll only be gone for two months." She says smiling.

"What? Its a three year program, didn't you say it was a three year program?" Callie asks sitting up abruptly.

"It is a three year program, but I have a partner at Johns Hopkins, who is helping me to oversee the project and share the fellowship with me. I'm going over to set up the foundation of the project, but I'm coming back. Then once the clinic is built and ready to open, I'll go over for another three months and help get the staff trained and the program running." She explains.

"Oh my god, are you serious?" Callie asks kissing her. "You're not going to be gone for three years?"

"No, I'm spreading my fellowship out over five years, but no more than three or four months at a time." The blonde says taking a brown hand into hers and kissing it. "Callie, I want us to work and I did this for us. Will you give this a chance?"

"Arizona, I was awake half the night thinking about you being gone for three years, why didn't you tell me this yesterday?" Callie pushes her away, suddenly upset.

"I-I'm sorry. It was just so much and I haven't even explained it to Weber yet. He just surprised me when he brought in the guy from the foundation and then the PR people and all the celebrating." The blonde tries to explain. "Please forgive me for not explaining this to you before now. I've been negotiating this for weeks and I thought for a minute that I'd have to choose you or Africa and I knew that I couldn't do it. I had to find a way to have both and I know that you've already had your African adventure in the Peace Corps, so I need to have mine. I wanted to tell you, but I was sworn to secrecy by the committee. But I can't do it if I lose you, Callie."

"You won't lose me, Zo. I love you. I'm proud of you and I'd go to freaking Africa again to just be with you." She says pulling the blonde in and kissing her. "But I'm very happy to share you with Africa, because I really like our life here." She says kissing her again.

Smiling, Arizona pulls her in and deepens the kiss, pushing Callie over so she can straddle her.

"Hey wait a minute... Arizona will you move in with me?" The brunette asks cupping her face and looking into the sparkling blue eyes.

"No offense, but you already have Owen and Christina. Your place is little crowded." Arizona says grimacing.

"Well, we're going to be late for work." Callie says moving out from under the blonde and putting on her robe and leaving the room.

* * *

"I asked her to move in with me Mark and she said no." Callie is complaining to Mark over coffee later that morning.

"Well your place is crowded, you can't blame her for not wanting to live with Yang and Hunt, they're loud and I say that as your neighbor." He counters, taking a sip of his smoothie. Mark doesn't drink coffee, because it would stain his teeth.

"You're siding with her?" Callie says turning to Alex as he sits down beside them. "I'll ask Karev."

"Is this relationship stuff? I'm not getting into anything between you and Robbins. I'm on her service today." He says standing up to leave.

"Coward!" Callie says to his back.

"Way harsh Cal." Arizona says sitting down. "What did he do to you? He's on my service today, I can make him miserable you know." She says smiling.

Callie glares at her. Mark stands up to leave and motions to Arizona that she's in trouble.

"Okay, so now that I've cleared the table, I'm guessing that there's something that we need to talk about?" The blonde asks staring directly into fiery brown eyes.

"I asked you to move in with me and you said no, Arizona." Callie replies pushing away from the table.

Reaching over and grabbing her leg and pulling her back to the table, Arizona says, "Wait a minute Calliope, I did not say no. I said your place was a little crowded. Not the same thing. And why don't you move in with me?" She counters taking a sip of her coffee.

"Ah well, it's my place. I don't want to move out of my place. Cristina should get her own place." Callie says looking around the room and spotting Yang. "Wait right here".

Arizona continues to drink her coffee and eat her doughnut as Callie approaches Yang and proceeds to have a lively conversation with the younger doctor. After a few minutes, Callie returns to the table.

"Yang is going to buy a place and move out. Now will you move in with me?" She asks excitedly.

"Yes Calliope, I will move in with you. But not until after I get back from Africa." The blonde says leaning over and kissing her.


	23. Chapter 23

Hanging up the phone Arizona realizes that she's got a serious problem to address. Her flight to Africa leaves on Sunday, February 10th, meaning that she will miss Valentine's Day and its the first one for her and Callie. Unsure what to do, she changes clothes and heads to the gym to run on the treadmill.

"What's going on?" Mark asks seeing her covered in sweat mid-afternoon in the lobby. Arizona is a morning runner, so if she's running this time of day, it's to think.

"I leave for Africa in 11 days, Mark. What the hell am I going to do to make up for missing Valentine's Day, our first one at that?" Arizona asks him.

"Go shower and then come up to my place, I have an idea." He says winking at her.

* * *

"This better be good Sloan." Arizona says as she enters his apartment without knocking.

"Oh it's better than good. I've called my guy and arranged for you to have 3 days at my cabin at Lake Tahoe, I pulled up Callie's surgery schedule and blocked off the the 5-8th, it looks like you can block those off too. It's an hour and half flight, buy the tickets and surprise her. It's all set." He says smiling and taking a sip of his beer.

Taking his computer and looking at his cabin photos, she begins to smile, "This looks amazing, Mark. Thank you." Pausing a moment to consider how Callie will feel if she plans this without her. Will this be a good surprise?

"Trust me, Callie loves surprises." He says confidently.

"Wait, she hasn't been to this cabin with you, has she?" Arizona asks, suddenly worried that Mark isn't really helping her.

"No, she doesn't even know that I have this cabin. Only Addison has been there. I promise, Zo." He adds.

"Okay", she says turning the laptop back around so she can check flights, finding one that leaves on Monday night she books it. "Okay, done. Now don't say a word to her. I've got to go get this ready to tell her tonight. Did you block off her surgical calendar?" Arizona asks pausing at the door.

"Yeah, yeah. I have it covered. So go, do you want me to cook for you tonight?" He asks thoughtfully.

"No I've got that covered. Just stall her until I get back, okay?" The blonde asks before leaving.

* * *

"Mark, do you know why my calendar is blocked off next week? I have a follow up procedure to book and imagine my surprise to find that have three days blocked off next week." Callie says walking into his apartment without warning.

"Yes, I do know. But I can't tell you, so just chill, okay." He says coming over to her and sitting her down on his couch. Then getting up, he grabs a wine glass and hands it to her.

"Just tell me Mark." Callie demands.

"It's not mine to tell." He says moving over to the stove and pulling out some bruschetta. He quickly plates a couple of them and hands it to her. Tell me what you think? I'm trying out a new recipe for Lexie tonight. Too much garlic?" He asks distracting her.

Suddenly her phone buzzes on the table.

"Meet me at your apartment in 5 minutes." The text from Arizona reads.

Raising an eyebrow and looking suspiciously at Mark, Callie asks again, "Mark, what the hell is going on?"

"It's surprise. Now you and I both know that you like surprises, so finish the wine and get in a better mood. Because this is an awesome one." He adds winking at her.

Cocking her head at Mark's use of the word 'awesome'. Callie does as requested and takes a long sip of wine and let's out a breath. She knows that Arizona is leaving some time in the next week or so, she was hoping that it would be after Valentine's Day, but had tried to prepare herself just in case the blonde leaves before it.

Finishing the wine, she stands up and walks over to the door. Taking a deep breath she walks over to her own door and opens it to find the apartment lit with candles and the dining room table set for two.

"Arizona?" She says as she enters her own apartment totally surprised.

"Calliope." The blonde says coming down the hall in a simple dress, barefoot. "Would you like to shower and change before dinner?" She asks, smiling brightly.

Setting her things down, Callie looks around the room and asks, "What is all this? What is going on?"

Moving to stand in front of her girlfriend, Arizona takes her hands. "Cal I received my flight information and I've made some plans for us to spend time together before I leave. Now, please take some time and get ready for our romantic dinner." She says pressing her lips to those beautiful full red ones.

"Oh, okay." Callie says smiling. "But can't you give me a hint?" She asks.

"I will tell you that Yang isn't coming home tonight. I bought her a bottle of tequila and sent her over to Meredith's." Arizona says mischievously.

"Well, in that case I'll be right out." Callie says suggestively, pulling the blonde in closer and kissing her again.

* * *

Callie walks back into the kitchen, dressed in leggings and a blouse and she's pleasantly surprised, Arizona has on their favorite playlist and table is set with salads and wine. Spying the blonde in the kitchen, she can't help but pin her against the cabinet and kiss her. "Hmm, everything smells wonderful, but my kitchen is still clean, so I'm guessing you didn't cook." She teases her.

"No, but I have been busy," Arizona says pushing her away. "Now sit down."

Sitting down, Callie realizes that there's an envelope beside her plate. Picking it up she looks at the blonde, who smiles and nods for her to open it. "It's plane tickets, to Lake Tahoe... this is why my calendar is blocked?" She asks looking up with a big smile for her girlfriend.

Moving to kneel in front of her, Arizona takes her hands, Calliope, my flight to Africa leaves on the 10th, so I've arranged for us to have our own Valentine's Day next week at a cabin in Lake Tahoe." She says carefully.

"Zo, that sounds amazing. But what is all this?" Callie asks gesturing around the room.

"This is because I know the next few months will be hard, so I want the next week to be special for us" she says leaning in to press her lips to Callie's.

"Thank you, I loved coming home to this. I need to apologize to Mark though, I was a bit upset that he blocked off my calendar. Wait why did he block off my calendar?" Callie asks suspiciously.

"Okay, so he uh, helped me come up with the trip. We're actually staying at his cabin in Tahoe." Arizona confesses.

"Mark has a cabin in Tahoe? Of course he does." Callie says laughing. "Well, I've never been to Lake Tahoe and this looks fantastic." She says leaning in and kissing her, "when do we leave?"


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: okay it took me a couple of short chapters to get back in the groove. Now I have a light work week, so let's see how far we can get on this one and I'm gonna aim for longer chapters and hopefully post one every other day or so.**

* * *

Arizona was amazed. Mark's guy picked them up at the airport on time and had them in the cabin within an hour. The fridge was stocked with almost everything she asked for and all they had to do was light the fire in the fireplace. It was perfect and even though they were exhausted from their long day of work and travel, they decided to shower and change their clothes separately.

* * *

Getting out of the shower, Callie is surprised that she feels nervous and giddy about spending the night here. It's not their first night out of town together, but somehow it feels different. Putting on lotion, she pulls out the new lounge wear she bought for this trip and once dressed, she smiles at reflection in the mirror.

* * *

Hurrying to get showered and changed, so that she can set up everything in front of the fireplace, the blonde can't believe that she feels nervous about tonight. She knows that everything is perfect, but she really wants it to be as perfect as possible. Entering the living room, she quickly lights the candles and then moves into the kitchen to begin finding everything she needs.

"Hey." Callie says as she enters the room to find Arizona stressed out and rummaging through the cabinets.

"Uh, sorry. I was hoping to have this done before you..." She begins to say, then feels the heat of Callie right behind her.

"Shh, there's nothing to be sorry for Zo." She says moving in to kiss the blonde, pressing her body up against the smaller woman.

"Calliope, I just..." she tries to explain.

"Shh, stop talking." Callie reaches over for the remote and hits play. She also arranged to have her own little surprise at the cabin, a playlist of all of their favorite songs and a few that Callie just really loves because they make her think of her girlfriend.

"Hmm, you're sneaky. Now I know why Mark wouldn't let me pick out any music for this trip." She says smiling and kissing her back. "And oh my god, you're beautiful. I was not paying attention, I can't believe I almost missed this." She says stepping back to admire her gorgeous girlfriend.

"No more freaking out. This is supposed to be relaxing and spontaneous, so let go of the planned itinerary in that head of yours, we're not on any schedule here." Callie says soothingly. "Now, what do we have to snack on in front of the fire tonight?" She asks nibbling on the blonde's neck.

"I'm not sure." The blonde says gasping as the brunette sucks on the pulse point in her neck.

"Well, I'm fine with this right now. Are you good?" She says seductively, moving hands under the blonde's shirt and slipping caressing her bare skin.

"Mmm, so good." Arizona moans into her hair.

"Then let's get more comfortable," Callie says taking her hand and leading her to the couch, then pausing a moment, she looks down and sees the pallet that Arizona has made for them, like she did for their first weekend together.

Pulling the blonde down with her to the soft bedding, Callie moves quickly to resume ravishing her neck and then pulling her shirt up, she begins sucking on the blonde's taut nipples.

Unable to take it, Arizona removes her shirt and then in one practiced move, Callie slips off her tights and takes a moment to take in the sight of her naked girlfriend with the moonlight streaming in off the snow and the firelight dancing around the room. "You take my breath away Zo, you're so so beautiful." She says gently teasing her with her hair as she lightly runs her fingers down the length of her lover's body.

Gasping as Callie teases her wetness and then plunges two fingers into her center. "Oh Cal-lio-pe," she moans. Smiling, Callie continues to tease her nipples with her tongue and teeth as she feels the blonde tighten around her fingers. Stilling her hand, she leaves a trail of hot kisses down Arizona's toned abs and until she can breath in the scent of her arousal.

"Callie, I'm so close, please don't slow down," the blonde moans.

Moving her other hand to lift up the blonde, she moves her just enough so that she can take her clit into her mouth and suck just as she begins moving her hand again. The intensity of it together causes the blonde to cry out loudly and writhe underneath her. Pulling back a moment, Callie lets her ride it out, but instead of removing her hand, she bends back down and does the same two things again and the blonde builds and climaxes almost immediately.

Gasping for breath and barely able to talk. Arizona reaches down for her and begs, "Cal please, god, please just let me breath a minute."

Laughing Callie lays down beside her and pulls her in tightly. "I could do that all night, I love hearing you scream out my name. It's like the best thing ever."

"I don't even want to know how you learned to do that." Arizona says still shaking with aftershocks.

"You'll be very happy to know that I figured it out with you and only you." Callie says sweetly.

"Oh thank god!" Arizona says relieved that it's not something she learned from Mark.

* * *

Waking up the next morning to sunlight streaming through the windows, Callie is a little disoriented. She's not used to this much light in the morning, but then she sees Arizona sitting in the window seat with a cup of coffee and she smiles.

"Hey beautiful, good morning." Callie says softly, trying to wake up.

"We should have moved to the bedroom, so you could sleep in." Arizona says looking over and admiring the form of the Latina as she moves around to find her clothes.

"I don't need to sleep in." Callie responds crossing the room to sit beside her and kiss her good morning. "But I do need coffee." She says yawning into her hand.

"Maybe a quick shower and then a dip in the hot tub to work out the kinks from that floor?" Arizona suggests.

"That sounds perfect." Callie says kissing her quickly before heading into the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

* * *

After a relaxing day spent in and out of bed, they decide to stay in and cook dinner together, which is something that they rarely do together because of their schedules. but they did work out the meal ahead of time, so it goes rather well. After dinner, they clear the table and load the dishwasher. Then Arizona pours them two snifters of brandy that she found in the cabinet and she heads over to the couch, where Callie is fidgeting with the sound system.

"Hold on, I've almost got it." She says, just as the first notes of Brandi Carlisle's song 'The Story' begins to play.

Arizona smiles, she loves this song, especially when Callie sings it to her like this.

Pulling the blonde in, Callie wraps her legs around her and begins singing the song to her.

Closing her eyes, Arizona loves feeling Callie sing the song almost as much as she loves hearing it.

As the song ends, Callie hands her a small gift box. Arizona opens it and it's full of international calling cards. Each one with a small handwritten note taped to it. "Don't read them all now. Wait until you get to Africa at least!" Callie teases her.

Turning around, Arizona kisses her. "Thank you Calliope, I will never get tired of hearing you sing to me."

Then reaching over, she picks up a small box from the table beside them and hands it to her girlfriend.

Pausing to kiss the blonde, Callie then opens the gift box and pulls out a necklace with a heart shaped charm, just as Arizona begins reciting the ee cummings poem...

_i carry your heart with me (i carry it in_  
_my heart) i am never without it (anywhere_  
_i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done_  
_by only me is your doing, my darling)_

_i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want_  
_no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)_  
_and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant_  
_and whatever a sun will always sing is you_

_here is the deepest secret nobody knows_  
_(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud_  
_and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows_  
_higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)_  
_and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart_

_i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)_

Then as she finishes the poem, she shows Callie, that she's wearing the same necklace.

"Oh my god, I love this." Callie says crying. "That was amazing, Zo. Thank you." She says kissing her.

* * *

Leaving the airport after seeing Arizona off wasn't as hard as Callie thought it would be. The last week, they spent so much time talking about their dreams for the future, that this just seems like one of the many steps in the journey. But now walking into the hospital it hits her, she can't stop looking around for her. And each time she doesn't see her, she's disappointed all over again.

* * *

The first flight to Baltimore to meet up with the group was fine, but that night in the hotel, Arizona calls her.

"Hi." She says when the brunette answers. "I know we talked about not calling each other tonight, but I think that was..."

"A totally dumb idea." Callie finishes the sentence. "I'm glad you called. I really needed to hear your voice tonight."

"How was your day?" Arizona asks her.

"It was fine, except I spent all day looking for you. Even though I knew you were gone, I guess it will take a few days for me to stop doing that." Callie confesses.

"Well, I'm sorry. Hey are you home?" Arizona asks her softly.

"Yeah, I just took a shower and I've got a pile of medical journals beside me. Why, why are you asking?" Callie asks confused.

"Open the drawer beside your bed." Arizona instructs her.

"Oh my god, Arizona what, what is this?" Callie asks.

"It's the picture we took last week. I had it framed for you and I have one with me. See how happy we are in that picture? That's what we need to remember, please don't doubt us. Callie this is real and I'll be home soon. I don't know how often that I'll be able to call you, but I need you to know that every night, I'll be thinking of you and us, looking at this picture." Arizona says tearing up a little, her voice breaking.

"Okay." Callie says trying not to cry herself. "Arizona, thank you for this. Call whenever you can, I always want to hear your voice and know that you're okay." She adds.

* * *

A few hours later, Arizona wakes up and gets dressed. Their flight leaves at 5 am and Greg is picking her up in front of the hotel. She only has a small carry on, the rest of her luggage was sent on the cargo plane with the supplies and it will be waiting for her when she arrives in Malawi. The first leg is easy, because the foundation has chartered a private plane to fly their small group of eight to JFK, where they will then fly 15 hours non-stop to Johannesburg, South Africa before taking a small jet to Lilongwe, Malawi.


	25. Chapter 25

Stepping out of the OR Callie looks at her phone, no messages or missed calls. Sighing, she knows it's too soon to expect anything from Arizona, but she misses her already.

"Hey Torres!" Sloan calls to her right before she steps into her office. He pulls her aside and asks, "How are you doing? Hanging in there?"

"It's barely been 24 hours, I'm fine." Callie replies. "Maybe I should consider being a part of the next group that goes over to open the clinic, they'll need an ortho, right?" She asks.

"True, but do you really want to go to Africa, haven't you already been there and done that?" He asks.

"Mark, I went to Botswana but that was before I was a doctor. I could really make a difference in Malawi and I'd get to be there with Arizona instead of left behind here, missing her like crazy." Callie counters.

"Then you should go. I'll send you the Doctors Without Borders contact info, I went to South America once." He replies.

"Wait, Mark Sloan and Doctors Without Borders even know each other?" Callie replies sarcastically.

"Hey, hey, I'm not as bad as you think I am. I should probably go again, actually." He admits.

"Then come to Africa with me an Arizona and help open the clinic," she says flashing a smiling. "Ohh, let's contact Doctors Without Borders now." She says pulls him into her office and shuts the door.

* * *

Sitting in the Johannesburg airport after 18 hours of flying, Arizona finally has internet access but now its 1:30 am in Seattle and she's determined not to wake Callie up. Pulling her laptop out of her bag, she pulls up her email and decides to write her an email that she can read in the morning.

* * *

"You paged me?" Callie asks Kepner as she walks into the pit.

"Yeah, I have lady here and something isn't right. Nelson diagnosed her with Parkinsons, but she also has two bulging discs in her back. Walker has prescribed epidurials for the pain, but she doesn't get much relief and today she is disoriented with muscle weakness and a loss of bladder control. Would you review the case? Her daughter is in Mexico on vacation and they want us to call and review everything with her." Kepner explains.

"Is the daughter a physician?" Callie asks.

"I'm not sure, but it sounds like she might be. Her name is Natalie Hughs and we have a number for her, but we have a conference call set up with her for tomorrow morning at 10 am." Kepner informs her.

"Okay, whatever. I'll look it over, did you admit her?" Callie asks.

"Yes, she's going up to 2 East Med surg floor, she has some spots on her lungs that they're going to run further tests on." Kepner replies.

"Wow, okay. I'll look everything over and follow up with the internist. Thanks April." Callie says as she walks off to go assess the patient.

* * *

Arizona didn't realize that they would be staying at a resort during the planning stage of the clinic. Now that her meeting is over, she's headed up to her room to call Callie, its about 11 pm in Seattle.

"Arizona?" Callie says opening the Skype link.

"Hey, I'm sorry to call so late." She asks, happy to see her girlfriend.

"Oh it's not too late and it's so good to hear your voice." Callie replies. "You look tired Zo."

"I am, we got in at 3 am and I've been in meetings all afternoon. We're actually staying at a resort in Lilongwe." Arizona explains.

"A resort? So decent coffee and a nice bed? That sounds amazing." Callie replies.

"It is actually. Although I was so tired when we got here, I probably could have slept in the lobby. So how was your day?" The blonde asks.

Well, my day was good. I have an interesting new case that I'm working on with Derek. Its a Parkinson case that looks like its actually a compressed fragmented nerve in the L4-5 segment. Get this, the daughter is the medical contact and she's in Mexico on vacation, we have a conference call with her tomorrow." Callie explains.

"Oh, so she's a doctor?" Arizona asks trying to understand.

"I'm not sure, but the patient won't make any decisions without her daughter's opinion. And you should see the daughter who brought her in, covered in tattoos, apparently her husband is a well known tattoo artist and has a reality TV show." Callie replies.

"Interesting, so you think you can help her?" Arizona asks.

"I'll know for sure when I look at the scans tomorrow with Derek, but I am almost positive she doesn't have Parkinsons." Callie replies.

* * *

At dinner that night, Arizona sits between Greg and Madison, the two doctors from Hopkins that are helping her on the project. Greg Parker and Arizona were residents together, but Madison was chosen by Norman McCale, Arizona's mentor and she seems promising.

Gregg Abbott is about 5'8", about 180 pounds, they would run together in med school and quiz each other.

Madison Carson is tall with the body of a dancer from what Arizona has seen on their trip so far. A beautiful young woman and probably one that the old Arizona would have liked, but now having been with a woman like Calliope Torres, girls like Madison don't appeal to her.

"Dr Robbins, would you like to meet me in the morning to work out?" Madison asks.

"Thank you for asking, but James and I are running in the morning, you're welcome to join us." Arizona says to the younger woman hoping that she'll get the message that the blonde isn't interested.

"Thanks Dr Robbins, I'll keep that in mind." She replies a little disappointed.

* * *

"Derek, the fragmented nerve is compressed by the L4 and 5." Callie points out on the scan.

"A fragmented and compressed sciatic nerve can cause incontinence and explain the leg muscle weakness. Does the patient also complain of RLS?" Derek asks.

"Yes, that was her first complaint. Nelson diagnosed her with Parkinson's last fall when she was admitted with pneumonia and her daughter thought she was having a nervous breakdown. " Callie explains.

"Have you spoken with the daughter?" Derek asks.

"I spoke to one of her daughters, but the older one is on vacation. That's who we have the conference call with this morning." She replies.

"Oh, so she's a doctor?" He replies.

"It's not clear. But the patient won't do anything until we talk to her. We have fully executed power of attorney forms for everything." She explains.

* * *

"Ms Hughs, I'm Derek Shepherd, neurosurgery and this is Dr Callie Torres, ortho surgery." He begins introducing each doctor in the room. This is a web conference, so they can all see each other.

Natalie is in a simple capri pants and blouse with medium length brown hair, lots of blonde highlights.

"Thank you all for meeting with me, I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. I realize it is highly unusual, but I'm on location and I can't leave right now, it's a very sensitive point in our production." Natalie explains, not wanting to tell them that she's a writer on a hit medical drama that is filming a season finale. Most doctors hate medical dramas, but it has given her a wealth of medical knowledge and that has been very helpful to her family. She study pre-med in college, but was also an English major, eventually the writing took over and she didn't even graduate from Stanford. Instead she and a friend wrote a screenplay and got writing contracts in Hollywood.

"Now what happened to Dr Nelson and Dr Walker? Don't misunderstand, I'm happy to have both of you on my mother's case, especially if you can do something for her pain other than medicate it." Natalie adds.

"Ms Hughs..." Callie begins.

"Natalie, you can just call me Natalie, Dr Torres." She says interrupting her with a smile.

"Okay, L4, 5, and 6 are bulging now, previous scans showed that just the L4 and 5 were bulging, so now that the S1 is involved you're mother's symptoms have increased. Here is the MRI scan that shows the bulging discs." Callie puts up the scan and points at the area as she talks.

"Is that a nerve caught in that compressed area?" Natalie asks looking at the scan.

Derek and Callie exchange looks, not many untrained people would identify that on a scan.

"It is," Derek replies. "Your mother has a fragmented sciatic nerve that is compressed by her bulging discs.

"So this would explain her sudden total incontinence and why she has the burning pain and weakness in her back and legs. It's quite a bit more than the bulging discs that Dr Walker was treating." Natalie says obviously tracking the doctors presentation quite well. "So what is the surgical option? I mean, I realize you're both surgeons, so apparently there's a surgical option." She points out.

"There is Natalie. Microdiscectomy would relieve the pressure on the nerve root and greatly reduce the symptoms caused by the compression." Callie explains.

"But, we also need to examine the nerve and make sure there aren't sign of demyelination. Your mother's symptoms could also be a result of demyelination disease, which could be the underlying issue." Derek explains.

After another 20 minutes of discussion the call ends and Callie turns to Derek. "I thought that you were going to ask her if she's a doctor?"

"I can't ask her that and its obvious that she has some kind of medical background. Did you google her?" He asks.

Callie's face lights up and she grabs her tablet and begins typing.

"Natalie Hughs has a Wikipedia page, she's a writer, producer and director for Baja Med Center." She says reading the Wiki page.

"Oh right the show with all the shark attacks and sex. As if a respectable plastic surgeon would be a surfer with a tan, Mark and I still laugh over that show." Derek admits.

"It says here that she was one of the writers who developed the show and its been on for almost 10 years. I remember everyone talking about it when I was in med school." Callie replies.

"Are you saying that you watch the show, Torres?" Derek asks.

"I may have seen a few episodes here and there. The medicine isn't completely wrong, though it is a constant stream of unlikely cases. It's at least interesting and that lead doctor is hot, Maddie Reiser. They were smart to make her bi-sexual, she has chemistry with everyone on the screen." Callie adds.

"So this is how you're spending your time while Arizona is in Africa?" Derek teases.

"No, it's not." Callie says folding away her tablet. "Now let's go meet with the patient and explain this to her."

**A/N: Ah, so my Mom is back in the hospital and I'm trying to figure out what's going on with her and wishing that I could have a consult with Callie and Derek, so I wrote one. However, this is loosely based on her issues. She has bilateral pnuemonia so I'll be writing the next chapter in the hospital.**


	26. Chapter 26

Arizona is thrilled with the contractor who is building the clinic. He's very resourceful and the design team is working to make the clinic as self-sufficient as possible with solar panels for electricity, a lagoon for sewage treatment, even a vegetable garden and a small area for livestock. The clinic will also be a source of jobs for some locals, which should help them gain trust in the community.

Tomorrow the doctors go over to the hospital in Lilongwe for a tour and then they will begin working there several times a week. Arizona is interested to see the facility and understand what types of cases are common here before she orders all the equipment for the clinic.

Taking a break from their meetings today, Arizona rushes up to her room so she can call Callie before it gets too late.

"Hi!" Callie says a bit slowly.

"Oh no, I woke you up." Arizona apologizes.

"No, no, I'm up. I'm up, I, uh just dozed off. I'm reading up on Sciatic Neuropathy for this new case." She explains.

"Ah, so how did it go with the daughter?" Arizona asks remembering the case.

"She's interesting, but not a physician. Get this, she's one of the creators of Baja Med Center, she writes, produces and directs the show, how cool is that?" Callie says excitedly.

"Oh, that is interesting, I wonder what her background is, that show is pretty good. So did she sign off on your surgical plan?" she asks.

"Yes and the surgery is scheduled for first thing tomorrow. I'm going to do a microdiscectomy and Derek is going to check her sciatic nerve for demylenation." Calle replies. "How is the clinic design going?"

"The contractor is great. We're working on making the clinic as self-sustaining as possible. Tomorrow we go tour the hospital and then we begin taking shifts there." Arizona explains.

"How are the doctors from Hopkins?" Callie asks.

"Good. James and Greg I knew from med school, but their resident is Madison. She's a general surgery fellow, so I'm sure she'll be fine." The blonde replies, not wanting to tell Callie any more about the young doctor.

Hearing Callie yawn, reminds Arizona that its late in Seattle. "Calliope, you need to get sleep for your surgery in the morning," she says sadly.

"Okay, let's Skype tomorrow though, I need to see you." Callie says thickly.

"Mmm, I miss you too." Arizona admits as she squirms a bit, the thickness in Callie's voice always arouses her.

* * *

"Natalie? Yes, everything went well." Callie says into the phone. She agreed to call her after the procedure.

"What a relief Dr Torres. What did Shepherd say about the sciatic nerve?" Natalie asks, trying to focus on her mother's case, but Dr Torres voice on the phone is as sexy as she is and it's quite distracting.

"Natalie, he's going to call you later this morning and discuss his findings, but I expect your mother to have increased mobility after the procedure. However, it will depend on her ability to participate in physical therapy." Callie reminds her.

"Absolutely understood. My sister isn't as tough on her as I am, so whenever I'm out of town she gets off her schedule and ends up in the hospital." Natalie says, obviously frustrated and disappointed.

"Oh, I didn't realize that you live here in Seattle." Callie replies, then adds, "Your mother really needs to take control of her health, it's good that you support her, but she does need to do it for herself. Would you like me to talk with her about additional options?" Callie offers helpfully.

"I don't know if it will do any good. I have tried everything but my sister doesn't support my efforts. Dr Torres, sorry I won't get into that with you. But thank you for everything that you've done and I'll just wait for Dr Shepherd's call." Natalie realizes that she needs to get back to the set and let the surgeon go, she's done all she can for her mother.

"Okay and Natalie?" Callie just has the feeling that this woman really needs some support, "If you want to talk with me after you talk with Derek, just call. I called you on my office cell, so you have my direct number, it will go to my private voice mail if I'm not available." Callie explains.

"Oh well thank you Dr Torres, that's quite unexpected but very much appreciated." Natalie replies, her voice definitely dropped an octave, catching Callie's attention.

"Its no problem, I do it for all of my patients. Its important for the family to be able to reach us when they have questions." She adds trying to make it seem like a normal thing, to give out her direct number.

* * *

Hanging up the phone, Natalie can't help but pull up her tablet and start a Google search on Callie Torres.

Interesting, she's from Miami and got her undergrad at the University of Miami, then went to med school at the University of Washington, she was a resident at Seattle Grace and now is an attending. She completed a dual residency in general surgery and ortho.

As a writer, she can't help but want to fill in the gaps in the story. How does a young grad from Miami up and decide to go to med school in the Pacific Northwest?

* * *

Hello Zo", Callie says greeting her girlfriend. "You're calling early!"

"Yes, I'm at the hospital, our tour hasn't started yet so I wanted to call you before you went to bed. How was your surgery this morning?" Arizona asks looking around the living room of Callie's apartment.

"The surgery went really well. Are you in an on-call room?" Callie teases her.

"No, its a doctor's lounge. We're waiting for the tour to start." Arizona says turning the tablet around so Callie can meet her coworkers, they introduce themselves one by one.

"Oh wow." Callie says once she's back face to face with the blonde. "Are you sunburnt?"

"A little, we sat outside yesterday before dinner and got a bit more sun than we expected." She explains.

"Speak for yourself Robbins. I told you all to wear sunscreen!" Madison says loudly leaning into Arizona's space to speak directly to Callie.

Fortunately Callie saw the look on her girlfriend's face when the young doctor invaded her space, but she's still concerned. That girl is cute and reminds Callie of Nicole in OT who Arizona dated before her.

"Sorry about that Calliope. It looks like the tour is going to start now, so I'll let you go. Have a good rest of your evening and I'm not running tomorrow morning, so call me when you can. I love you." Arizona says signing off.

"Wow Robbins, your girl is hot. I didn't know they even had hot Latina docs in Seattle." Greg teases.

"She's from Miami, Greg. But she went to med school at U of W in Seattle." Arizona explains as she puts her tablet back in her bag.

"How long have you been seeing her?" James asks.

"About eight months." She says to him, then looking over a her friend she says, "And yes, Greg. She met Jess a few months ago. I have no secrets from her."

Raising his eyebrows, Greg lets out a low whistle. "Damn, sounds like you may have finally found your own kryptonite!", he says laughing as he refers to her past reputation.

"Haha, Greg. Very funny." The blonde says pushing him out the door in front of her.

* * *

"What's with the face Cal?" Mark asks the next morning as they walk to work.

"I met Arizona's co-workers last night. One seems really familiar with her." She replies frowning.

"Oh, you met Madison." He replies.

"What do you know about her?" Callie stops walking and grabs his arm.

"Nothing, Zo just said there was a young girl there who was being a little too friendly and she was having to constantly shut her down." He replies rubbing his arm where she grabbed him. "She's got it under control. No worries, Callie. That little thing has nothing on Calliope Torres." He says gesturing to her curves.

"Stop that Mark, what are you a 15 year old?" Callie says grabbing his hands and then suddenly pulling him into a hug. "Thank you. I just, it's been a week and we still have seven to go."

* * *

"What do you have?" Arizona asks as she enters the trauma room, trying to remember the guy's name, she just met him yesterday. Raphael? she thinks, trying to get a look at his badge.

Looking up the young doctor from France assesses the blonde doctor, then begins running down the case.

"Young lad, approximately 7 years old and 19 kilograms. Intestinal distress probably caused by helminthiasis. Rapid HIV test came back negative." He replies.

"Okay, can we get a CT so we can determine how bad it is? Have you administered any drug therapy yet?" Arizona asks as she moves in to examine the young boy.

"We obtained a fece sample when he got here and started him on albendazole. But feel this." Dr Raphael takes her hand and places it on the boy's abdomen.

"We need to get him to the OR now!" She says pulling her hand back and moving to unlock the gurney. "Move!"

* * *

After removing a large section of the child's intestine and smaller portion of his bowel, Arizona decided to close him up and hope the antibiotics would begin working. These cases are so tough, by the time these kids get to the hospital it's usually too late to save them. This is why the clinic is so important. As part of the community, the clinic will have an opportunity to intervene earlier and eventually prevent these infections all together.

Now heading into the locker room, Arizona desperately wants to shower, after seeing all those eggs and then removing the worms from the intestine and bowels.

"Hey we're looking for you. The shuttle back to the hotel leaves in 15 minutes." Madison says poking her head into the locker room.

"Okay, I'll be there but I have to shower here. I just had a helminthiasis and removed a lot of intestines and bowel..." Arizona begins to explain.

Holding up her hand to stop the blonde from continuing, "Got it. No visual aids please. I'll let them know. See you out there." She says involuntarily shuddering.

Smiling, Arizona can't help but chuckle. In a few months, they won't think twice about dealing with helminthiasis.

* * *

"Dr Torres, I hate to bother you, do you have a moment?" Natalie asks when Callie picks up the call.

"Oh Natalie, I just spoke with Dr Shepherd and I thought you might call." Callie says smiling into the phone.

"Yeah, I just know anything about demylenation or TMEV treatment and neither does anyone from my med team here in Mexico. I don't know if you know this or not but I work on a medical TV show, so most of my medical knowledge comes from the research required to write scripts based medical terminology." She explains.

"Well, I will admit that your medical knowledge was pretty impressive, so I did a Google search to see if you were a doctor, so yes, I did know a little bit about you." Callie admits.

"For the record, I'm still fighting over the Wiki page, it's hugely inaccurate. My ex, well let's just say it was an ugly breakup." Natalie says embarrassed.

"Okay, well let's talk about TMEV treatment. Derek, er, Dr Shepherd just walked me through the trials and I'm sure he shared with you that the trials had positive results for women more often than for men. Not that that is a valid reason to do an experimental treatment on your Mother, but it is one more compelling reason to consider it." Callie offers. And they spend the next 15 minutes going over everything with Natalie asking more questions and Callie walking her through the procedure again.

"Ok, I need to sleep on it. But I do understand this now, so thank you Dr Torres. I don't know if you know how amazing it is to have you take time to go over this with me." Natalie replies.

"Don't worry, I'm just getting into the lab myself and it's really easy to stop speaking English once you get into the project." Callie replies.

"What is your project? If you don't mind me asking?" Natalie finds herself curious about this young doctor.

"Oh, I'm growing cartilage in the lab." Callie replies.

"Did you say that you're growing cartilage in a lab?" Natalie repeats. "Well that is impressive and I say that as someone with a biophysics degree."

"Thank you, it's nice to be able to say that and not have to explain it in lay language. Next time you're in Seattle, come by the lab." Callie says before she has a chance to check herself. Am I flirting? She wonders.

"Well I actually live in Seattle Dr Torres, so I will have to take you up on that. I'm quite curious about you and your project. I'm always looking for new characters for my show and we haven't had an ortho yet." Natalie replies, careful not to be too obvious about it, since she doesn't even know if Dr Torres is single or gay.

"Well if you think that about me, wait until you meet my girlfriend Arizona Robbins, she's a pediatric surgeon..."

Interrupting her Natalie says, "I know who Dr Robbins is and she's in Africa right now, she just won the Carter-Madison?"

"Yes, wow. How do you know that?" Callie asks surprised.

"Well, I saw it on the news and I have my people trying to set up a meeting with her. I saw her TV interview, she has great charisma and I read her grant proposal, she's a brilliant new face in medicine; but then it sounds like you both are. We definitely need to get together. I should be back in Seattle in a few weeks. We're wrapping up the season finale, please don't leak that we're actually filming it in Mexico. Although from the helicopters that we saw today, I'm sure it's about to leak anyway." Natalie admits.

"Oh don't worry, I wouldn't even know who to tell." Callie says laughing.

**A/N: Mom's doing much better, yesterday they thought she had a heart attack, so that was a bit scary. Instead she has pnuemonia, so she'll be in for a few days. It's interesting to write a hospital fiction in the hospital with nurses and doctors in and out. Thanks to the guest for correcting me, I had just spoken with the nurse and she had explained that its not an L6, it goes to S1 at that point, so I've corrected. Also, this is loosely based on my mom's situation and Natalie is a fictional version of me (in my dreams!), so she's going to flirt with Callie but no worries, it won't be more than that. (And let's face it, it's not very realistic that the women of Seattle don't flirt with Calliope Torres constantly...**


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: at least we got a happy, fun AZ and she and Callie had a story line together that didn't have any awkwardness! So here's your reward my friends... AZ returns from Malawi! **

**To the guests who think the above statement is proof of my AZ bias, um let me point out that Callie has had a rich story line this whole season and AZ has barely been in the last 5-6 episodes. Excuse me if I want to see both characters on the screen as healthy and happy individuals. I'd love to see Calzona, but who knows when or if Shonda will grant us that relationship back. In the meantime, I'll settle for seeing both characters on the show with decent story lines. **

"Arizona!" Callie calls out as she finally sees the blonde on the concourse.

The blonde pauses and looks around to find her. Then spotting her girlfriend, she breaks into a huge smile and begins making her way through the crowd.

"Hey," the blonde says when she reaches her.

Instead of responding, Callie pulls her in to an embrace and kisses her.

"Did you miss me?" Arizona teases her as she pulls away to look at her.

"I'm going with you next time." Callie replies.

"Oh, you are?" The blonde replies unsure what the brunette means.

"I've registered with Doctors Without Borders and I'm being assigned to Malawi. I leave in six months." Callie informs her.

"Wait, what?" Arizona asks. "Callie you did what?"

"I leave in six months for Malawi, I have a four month contract with Doctors Without Borders." She explains, "It matches up with your next trip." Callie says bouncing excitedly.

"Uh, my schedule changed." Arizona says smiling nervously.

"Your schedule, what?" Callie asks loudly.

"Calliope, look we'll figure this out. Let's just get my stuff and go home, please?" Arizona replies, pulling her in for a kiss.

"Gah, but this was my big romantic moment!" Callie says pouting.

"It's still a romantic moment," Arizona reaches out and takes her hand. "You really joined Doctors Without Borders? You know I could just add you to the team from Hopkins?" She informs her.

"How come Mark's ideas work for you, but not for me?" Callie asks still pouting.

"Doctors Without Borders was Sloan's idea?" Arizona asks confused.

"Apparently he volunteered once for them and had a contact. He signed up too you know." Callie adds.

"Shut up! Mark Sloan volunteered to go to Malawi?" Arizona pulls her aside so they can talk face to face.

"No, he volunteered for South America. He and Lex had another fight." The brunette explains, "He leaves in four weeks."

"Ha! That figures. He's probably gotten assigned to a resort in Roatan!" The blonde says laughing and taking Callie's hand again the continue walking to the baggage carousel.

* * *

Waiting at the carousel, Arizona checks her phone. "I turned this phone off when we left the US and since I've turned it on, it's been vibrating non-stop. I must have a thousand missed calls and texts. Sheesh, this will take forever to get through," she exclaims.

"Hey, is that your bag?" Callie asks moving to grab it before it gets past.

"Good catch, Cal and you made fun of me for tying hot pink bows on my bags!"Arizona says laughing.

"I see the value in it now." She says reaching over and grabbing the next one. "How many more are there?"

"One more, the others I shipped back." Arizona explains.

* * *

"Where did you park?" Arizona asks as they finally make their way out of the airport.

"I took the metro out here. I figured that we would just grab a cab back," Callie says as they walk out the door.

Then she looks over and sees the black towncar with their name in the window and she nods to the driver, he walks over and opens the trunk. "Let me get that for you Doctor." He says taking the cart and moving to unload it into the trunk.

"This is not a cab Calliope! But I totally love it. Thank you for taking care of this, I'm so glad to be home with you." Arizona says slipping into the cab beside her. "You're amazing and I love you," she adds.

"I'm no Carter-Madison award winner, but I'm not so bad." She says grinning and kissing the blonde.

* * *

"Hey so do you have any idea why I'm being contacted by a production company out of LA?" Arizona asks when Callie enters the apartment.

"Oh, yeah I do actually. So you remember that patient I had with the daughter in Mexico?" Callie begins, Arizona nods. "Well, she wants to meet you and maybe model a character off you for her next show."

"What? Shut up, why me?" Arizona asks confused.

"Zo, you're kind of a big deal. Do you not know about all the coverage your clinic is getting?" Callie asks sitting down beside her.

"Medical journals are not media coverage Cal," the blonde says laughing.

Callie reaches over and picks up her tablet and types 'Arizona Robbins' into the Google search and then hands it to her.

The blonde looks at it, then covers her mouth. "Oh my god, oh my god. Calliope this is insane!" Arizona exclaims.

"Wait til you go to the hospital tomorrow. Public Relations has requests from the Today Show and Good Morning America, they all want to interview you about the clinic in Malawi and the Carter-Madison Grant.

* * *

"Hold on Nat, I'll ask her." Callie says putting her phone against her chest. "Zo, Natalie really wants to meet you. Would you mind if we meet her for coffee tomorrow morning before we go into the hospital?"

"Callie, who is Natalie?" Arizona asks confused.

"Natalie, my patient's daughter, the producer of Baja Med." Callie reminds her.

"Wait, she called you? On your phone?" The blonde questions.

"Yes, uh, we're friends sort of. It's a long story, but yes. Okay?" Callie asks her, reaching over to reassure her with a kiss.

"Nat, we'll see you at 7:15 at the coffee shop on the corner. Yes, I know. Okay see you then." Callie says putting the phone down.

"Explain please." Arizona says crossing her arms petulantly.

"Zo, it's nothing. Natalie has a biochemistry degree from Stanford, I told her about my cartilage project and when she got back from Mexico I showed her the lab and we've become friends. She's creating a character based on me for next season of Baja Med!" Callie explains excitedly. "Wait are you jealous?" Callie asks.

"Maybe. What does she look like and is she a lesbian?" Arizona says reaching over for her tablet to do a Google search.

"Yes, she's attractive and yes, she's a lesbian. But she's not single and neither am I Zo." Callie says taking the tablet and tossing it on the floor with her medical journals. "Arizona, I'm crazy about you and I've waited weeks to have you right here in my bed again." She says moving on top of the blonde.

Reaching over to turn off the light, Arizona laughs. "Well, it's been too long since I've done this." She says removing Callie's top and kissing her breasts. "And this," she says sucking on a taut nipple."

Moaning, Callie tries to focus and moves her hands under the blonde's tank top and lifts it up and over her head. Then reaching down, she slips her hand into her panties and pulls them down her legs easily. "God Zo, you're so fucking hot, look how tan and toned you are." Callie says thickly as she kisses her way down the lithe body of her girlfriend.

"God Cal, that feels so good. You always know how to make me feel good." The blonde moans, her breath catching as Callie's hot tongue and lips touch her body.

Moving back up to kiss the blonde, Callie carefully positions her leg to meet with the blonde's wet center, causing her to gasp and moan. "I'm going to make you feel so, so good," the brunette says thickly into her ear before nibbling lightly and then moving to suck on the pulse point in her neck.

Gasping, Arizona says, "Callie, I'm so tired. Maybe we should..."

The brunette knows exactly what she's going to say, so she wants to prove to her that she's not too tired by moving her hand to her center and teasing her way into the wetness. "I don't think you're as tired as you think," she husks.

"Oh Callie," she moans.

Keeping her hand in a steady rhythm, Callie begins kissing her breasts again, slightly biting and sucking on her nipples.

"I'm..so..close, Ca-lli-ope", Arizona calls out breathlessly.

Looking up Callie flashes a super sexy smile and then begins kissing her way down the blonde's body. Arizona trembles in anticipation...


	28. Chapter 28

"Okay, that was kind of cool." Arizona says as they leave the coffee shop. "Do you think I should have cleared that meeting with PR?"

"No, she's basing a character on you as a person and not as a doctor at Seattle Grace. I think we're good." Callie says confidently. "Now if she hires us to consult on the show, then we have to clear it with the hospital," she adds laughing.

"Well, she's really an interesting person and really easy to talk to, I can see how the two of you became friends." The blonde says smiling.

"What do you mean?" Callie questions as they walk up to the hospital.

"I just mean, you're both talkers." Arizona says as the door opens.

"Welcome Back Dr Robbins!" Chief Weber says loudly and then cameras go off and people are everywhere, pushing and pulling congratulating her.

Glaring at Callie, Arizona can't believe she didn't tell her there was going to be a reception this morning. And as she looks around the room, she spots Natalie with a camera crew. So she wipes off her glare and smiles, grabbing Callie's hand she says through clenched teeth, "I kind of hate you right now."

"Oh you'll love me later, I promise." Callie says into her ear, dropping her voice an octave on the last two words.

* * *

"You said we had a meeting Calliope, not that there would be a film crew and reception! We are all over the news and you didn't think to mention that to me? I would have worn something different, I would've worn my hair different."

"Trust me babe, those braids are hot, and you look beautiful today." Callie says pulling her in closer, now that they are alone in Arizona's office.

"Stop. I'm not happy with you right now." She says pulling away.

"Zo, it had to be a surprise. Everyone wanted it to be a surprise." Callie admits.

"I fricking hate surprises! Cal and you know it. Is that why you wouldn't let Mark come over last night, he would have given me a heads up. He's my friend." She adds with emphasis.

"Arizona, it's good public relations for you and Seattle Grace. Now I'll leave you to your meeting with PR, please do the interviews they've set up for you. Think of the publicity you're getting for the clinic. It could even help you recruit volunteers and doctors from all over will want to work with you." Callie adds, leaning in to kiss her.

Reluctantly, the blonde kisses her back. "I know you're right. I just hate the circus aspect of it. I just want to practice medicine, you know?" She adds, then pulls Callie in for a real embrace. "I love you, but could you please promise to give me a heads up next time?"

"How many times do you think you'll inspire a media circus Arizona?" Callie says teasing her girlfriend.

"Well, I am pretty awesome, so it could happen again," she teases back.

* * *

"There's a documentary film crew that wants to return to Malawi with you. A production company out of LA that wants to base a new TV show on the your clinic..." Theresa Sawyer begins to run down the different proposals that she's received regarding Dr Robbins since the news broke about her winning the Carter-Madison and the clinic in Malawi.

"Theresa, I've already met with Natalie Hughs, she's with the LA Production company. I like her, but I'm not sure. Do you think I need an attorney to advise me on this stuff?", the blonde asks.

"I have already contacted one for you, his name is Mike Reilly and he's an entertainment attorney. Here's his card. He will help you evaluate offers and we've already retained his firm to represent the hospital. The documentary team wants to begin filming your story here, then follow you to Malawi. We haven't worked out all the details yet, because we need you to agree to do it first." Theresa informs her.

"Okay." Arizona says taking a deep breath. "Can we do the Today show and GMA here in the lobby or something?" I don't want to spend tomorrow morning shuttling between TV stations. I'd prefer to just get it all over with and then get back to seeing patients," the blonde admits.

"Absolutely, Dr Robbins. I understand that you didn't seek all of this attention, but I'm sure that you do understand the advantages of participating in it." Theresa replies.

"I do, but Theresa I'm a private person. I'm not comfortable with all this, so if we can please get them to focus on the medicine and not me as a person, that would help a great deal." Arizona explains.

* * *

"How's my favorite Peds surgeon?" Mark asks, poking his head into her office.

"Desperate for a surgery or something to take my mind off the media circus! How are you Mark?" She asks moving to give him a hug.

"Good, did Cal tell you about Honduras?" He asks.

"She did, so who's the girl?" Arizona asks, lightly punching him in the arm.

"Maria Bardales, she's the director of the South American DWB program." He explains.

"And what about Lexie Grey?", the blonde asks, leaning back against her desk.

"Lexie and I took a break and she's with Avery now. It was bad enough that she was with Karev on our last break, but this Avery kid is too much. I'm done with her, she's a child, I need a woman." He says, obviously trying to convince himself.

"So how are you holding up," he asks changing the subject.

"Well, I've barely gotten anything done, I've been interrupted all day. And now I have to go meet an entertainment attorney, of all people!" Arizona says pushing off the desk and gathering up her stuff.

"Oh, that's smart, Zo. I'm hella impressed. Is it true that Baja Med is going to do a spin off based on a you?" He asks.

"That's what they're telling me. And with all the media, I'm now a public figure, so they can basically do whatever they want and not compensate me. Or at least that's what PR tells me, so if I cooperate, I may be able to get some money and set up my own foundation to help support the clinic, which means I need to meet with yet another attorney." She says sighing.

Putting his arm around her, Mark walks her out to the elevator. "I'm proud of you Robbins. You looked good on the news today, but no braids tomorrow. They are hot and all, but I think you look sexier with your hair down." He adds.

"Mark, I don't want to look sexy. I'm a doctor, I want to look professional. Damn, maybe I should call my stylist and see if she can get me in. Damn, one more thing to try to do today." She grimaces as the elevator doors close.

"Callie, I'm leaving now. I've got an appointment with the attorney and I'm trying to call and get a hair appointment, Mark says I can't wear braids tomorrow and I don't know why I'm listening to him." She says rambling. "Oh, but we're having dinner tonight. I've made reservations, so be home and dressed at seven. Okay?"

"I'll try. I'm heading into a hip replacement, Zo. It could run long. I'll have the nurse text you when I'm almost done, okay?" Callie replies, a little disappointed that she hasn't seen her girlfriend all day.

"Hmm, then I'll cancel the reservation and order pizza. It's probably better that we stay in, what I have planned for you is not fit for prime time..." Arizona replies dropping her voice a little.

"T-that sounds really good," Callie replies. "And, I've got some unfinished business from last night, since you fell asleep on me." She teases.

"Don't even bring that up Calliope, wait til you spend 20 hours on a plane traveling across the world!" Arizona protests, "But I'm rested and ready for you now, so don't make me wait too long..." She husks.

"Believe me, I have no intention of waiting any longer than necessary." Callie replies thickly.

* * *

"You're not going to tell me what the attorney said?" Callie asks taking a sip of wine between bites of pizza.

"No, I just want to look at my gorgeous girlfriend and enjoy this amazing pizza. Oh and this Pinot Noir tastes fantastic too. Tell me about your day." Arizona asks, reaching over to caress Callie's arm.

Leaning into the touch, Callie smiles. "I love your hair short, you look great." She says moving in for a kiss.

Returning the light kiss, she pulls back, "Not yet. Tell me about your day first." Arizona asks again. The whole day she's felt under the microscope and she doesn't want the focus on her any more.

"Okay, my day was good. A little unusual to be on TV, did I tell you my Dad called?" She asks. "Apparently, the morning news shows got footage of this morning and used it as a teaser for your interviews tomorrow. Dad was rather impressed and he offered to help you. He gave me the name and number of an attorney here that he thinks you should talk to." Callie explains.

"Wow, Callie that's a little amazing. What else did he say?" Arizona asks.

"He said that he misses me and he wants to give us a chance. I think he's coming around. You were right, he just needed time to adjust." Callie admits flashing one of her smiles that always makes Arizona feel dizzy.

"If you're going to look at me like that, we need to move to a second location." Arizona says standing up and taking Callie's hand.

"Oh no, not a second location... I've heard nothing good comes from that." She teases.

"Really? I think you'll like this one." Arizona says seductively, opening the bedroom door so Callie can see she's decorated it with candles and rose petals on the bed.

"Mmmm, this is a nice surprise." Callie says pulling her in tightly and kissing her.

Wrapping her hands into those lush raven curls, Arizona deepens the kiss and slips her hands under Callie's blouse.

Callie gasps, the heat of Arizona's touch always does that to her.

The blonde easily undoes her bra and in one practiced move, she removes the garments from her girlfriend and moves in to kiss her breasts. "Mmm, I've missed you so much Calliope," she says thickly, removing her own shirt and pushing the Latina down on the bed and climbing on top of her. Their bodies fit perfectly together and Callie wastes no time in upturning the blonde and removing her shorts. Taking a moment to gaze her, she can't help but flash a huge smile before dipping her head down to kiss those soft pink lips.

The blonde seizes the moment, "Oh no Calliope," Arizona says maneuvering her body so that she's back on top. "I need to show you exactly how much I missed you..." She says thickly, kissing her way down to Callie's center and then removing her leggings, she trails her fingers lightly down the tanned body.

Callie can't help but moan as the blonde trails her hands and tongue slowly back up her body, carefully pressing her perfectly toned thigh against her wet center and rocking gently against her as she sucks and nibbles on taut nipples. "Mmm, Zo that feels so amazing. You feel so good, I missed you so much." Callie says breathlessly as her whole body begins to tremble under the blondes attentions.

Sliding her hand along the beautiful tanned body, the blonde trails hot kisses as she moves her hands under and gently lifts her up and she lightly begins to explore the wet inner folds of her lover. Moaning as she feels Callie respond, Arizona slowly moves her right hand so that she can enter her, while still teasing her with her tongue.

"Zo, Zo my god..." Callie calls out. "More please, just a little more." She begs.

Without changing tempo, the blonde adds another finger and then begins to suck and pull on her clit, until she feels her tighten up, then she backs off and does slow circles again, feeling her lover start to relax a little, the blonde changes her tactic and sucks and pulls again, this time letting her come undone.

Wiping her mouth with back of her hand, the blonde carefully makes her way up to lie beside her. "Hmm, that's the best sound ever, you saying my name as you come undone." Arizona husks beside her trembling girlfriend.

"Oh god... babe, that was so, so good..." Callie says kissing her, still trying to catch her breath.

Moving a hair out of her face, Arizona looks at her tenderly, "I'm so in love with you Calliope."

Mesmerized by the intensity of the moment and the blue eyes of her lover staring deeply into her own, Callie pulls her in for a kiss and wraps herself around her. One hand sinks into the newly shorne blonde curls, the other finds its way down to her firm ass and pulls up her leg to allow her access to her dripping center.

"Now, let me show you how much I missed you, Arizona Robbins." Callie says thickly.


	29. Chapter 29

With the help of Carlos Torres and his attorney, the Timothy Robbins Foundation is created to assist children from Malawi who need to be treated in the US, either at Hopkins or Seattle Grace. Mr Torres even donated the first $25,000 to the foundation.

In the two months that she's been back in Seattle, Arizona has been on all the major networks morning shows, even Rachel Maddow did a segment on her. Mr Reilly managed to get them all to make donations to the foundation in return for her appearances, which really helped Arizona to mentally deal with all the publicity, because now when she does the interviews she is raising money for the Foundation.

Now meeting with her attorney, Arizona outlines what she wants from the documentary contract. "I will take the signing bonus into my personal account, but everything else and the residuals are to be paid directly to the Foundation, I'm not going to profit off of this." Arizona repeats to the attorney. In fact, the only reason she took the signing bonus was to pay off all of her remaining student loans, which will make it easier for her to travel back and forth to Africa.

* * *

"Zo, are you ready?" Callie calls from the kitchen. It's not very often that Callie is ready first, but today is the first day the documentary crew will be at the hospital following the blonde.

"Maybe I should have agreed to the stylist." She says entering the room with her hair down and a little too curly. "Maybe I'll just wear a scrub cap all day." She says laughing.

"It looks fine. But I thought you were going with braids?" Callie says looking at her hair a minute. "Look, let me braid it, it'll just take a minute." The brunette disappears down the hall and comes right back with a brush and comb.

"Okay, all done. It looks good." Callie says smiling and pleased with her work.

Arizona gets up and heads into the bathroom to check it out. "Callie?" She calls to her.

"What did I miss?" The brunette asks quickly following her down the hall.

"This." Arizona says kissing her. "Thank you. It looks great."

* * *

"The parents of the first four patients have agreed to participate in the documentary, so we will begin with them." Natalie reminds her team, "After the fourth one, we cut all filming. Understood?" She wants to make sure the first day goes well and then hopefully the other families will decide to participate.

"Okay Arizona, just forget that we're here." Natalie says looking at the doctor.

Grimacing, the blonde doctor looks down the hall at the camera crew, the lighting and the boom mic, then back to Natalie, "Sure Nat, no problem." She says moving past her and shaking her head.

Down the hall Callie, Alex, Cristina and Meredith watch them excitedly.

"Her braids look different, good though." Meredith comments.

"What I want to know is if she's going to skate for them." Cristina remarks.

"She's not wearing the wheelies today Yang." Callie says pushing her for mentioning them.

* * *

"Hello Cassie!" Arizona says as she enters the room and moves to the girls bedside.

"Cassandra is a seven year old female, she presented in the ER yesterday morning with severe stomach cramps, mid-grade fever, listlessness and overwhelming fatigue." Bailey says presenting the patient for rounds. "Blood tests revealed anemia, abdominal CT showed possible ulcerative colitis. Today we've scheduled a colonoscopy to confirm the diagnosis and determine the course of treatment." Bailey concludes, then looks around the room for questions.

"Dr Robbins, we were reading on-line about this and it seems like surgery isn't always necessary." Mr. Knight begins, "Do you really think that she'll need surgery?"

"Mr. Knight, this is Cassie's third hospitalization for colitis and the x-ray and CT scans from yesterday indicate there might be significant damage to her colon. The colonoscopy will provide us greater detail as to the condition of her entire colon, so until we have the results of that test, we can't really say. I promise you that Dr Bailey and I will review all options with you later this afternoon, once we know what we're dealing with here." Arizona reassures both parents, then looking back over to Cassie, she adds. "Cassie, Dr Stevens will be in to get you prepped for your test in about an hour, okay?"

Nodding the little girl looks over to Izzy and gives her a shy wave, which Izzy returns with a wink, before turning to follow the group out of the room.

Natalie pulls Izzy aside, "I want to recreate that scene later to get your reaction shot, that was really good." She says.

* * *

In the cafeteria, Arizona is having lunch with Mark and Callie, while the camera crew films them.

"You're leaving in two weeks for Honduras?" Callie asks. She and Mark decided to discuss their upcoming DWB trips for this lunch conversation that Natalie insisted on filming for the documentary.

"Yes, I leave on the 28th. You're still going to take me to the airport, right?" He asks both women.

"Of course, but you need to send me your flight info." Arizona reminds him, "since Callie will be gone when you return. And we'll give you our flight info, so you can pick us up when we get back from Africa."

"Are we going to be traveling home together?" Callie asks turning to look at her girlfriend.

"Yes, I've got that worked out finally. You still have to go over two weeks before me for your training, but our trips will match up for the remaining six months. I'll arrive at the end of your training and we'll travel to the clinic together from Lilongwe." Arizona says smiling. "I still can't believe that you signed up for this Callie, it means so much that you're going." The blonde leans over and gives her a chaste kiss.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the clinic that you've created. It sounds amazing and you're amazing, so how could I stay here and miss all of that?" Callie says flashing her a smile.

"Cut. Okay everyone take a break, we'll meet back upstairs in the Peds lounge in 45 minutes." Natalie says loudly. "Good job ladies... and Mark." She says sitting down with them. Then looking over at Arizona, she asks. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine. I just keep reminding myself that this is all about the children in Malawi and not me." The blonde replies.

"Good. Good. Now why do the residents call you McSteamy and you Rollergirl?" Natalie asks looking from Mark to Arizona.

Callie bursts out laughing, "Only a lesbian would ask that question!"

Tossing his wadded up napkin at the brunette, "I don't know why we're friends." Mark says pouting, as he leaves the table.

"I sometimes wear 'wheelies' to work, you know tennis shoes with skates in them?" Arizona explains.

"I didn't know they made those for adults?" Natalie replies.

"Oh, they do. She has three pair of them." Callie says still laughing. Then feeling a kick under the table, she looks over at her girlfriend, who is not happy with that disclosure.

"I'm not going to skate for you Nat, don't even ask. I only do it for the kids to help them not be so scared of being in the hospital." Arizona replies, hoping to put an end to this subject.

Smiling, Natalie agrees. But Callie knows this isn't the end of it. Natalie wants to this for the documentary, she can see it on her face. Looking from the blonde to the redhead, Callie sighs. This will be interesting, she thinks.

* * *

"Damn." Arizona says as she reviews Cassie's colonoscopy. "Let's go ahead and get a lower GI with contrast too." She says turning to Izzy. "I want to see this from every angle."

Then turning to the film crew, Arizona explains. "Cassie's white blood count is very high, indicating that she's fighting off a serious infection. The colonoscopy shows significant damage to her large intestine. The standard procedure in this situation is to remove the large intestine and then perform an Ileal Pouch Anal Anastomosis, which bypasses the large intestine. Now I'm wanting to look at the lower GI tract to confirm that this surgery is needed. If there's anyway I can avoid removing a child's large intestine, than I want to do try that first." The blonde doctor says, moving past the film crew to exit the small room.

"Mr and Mrs Knight?" Arizona says as she enters the waiting room. "The colonoscopy is complete and now we're going to do the lower GI endoscopy that I mentioned might be needed."

"Oh no, she does need surgery!" Mrs Knight cries out.

"Yes, she will need surgery. The question now is how much." Arizona says looking right in their eyes. She finds that the direct approach helps the parents digest the information more easily and helps them to focus.

"What are we looking at, a total colectomy?" Mr Knight asks.

"We are trying to determine if we can just resect a portion of the intestine, that's why we're doing the endoscopy now." Arizona reminds them. Then moving to the door, she adds. "I'll be back to go over options, Dr Bailey will stay with you and answer any remaining questions."

* * *

"I can't believe that I actually forgot they were filming us in the cafeteria." Arizona laments to Callie over a simple dinner at home that night. She didn't even realize that she kissed Callie at lunch until Mark pointed it out to her. Now she's all freaked out about it.

"It was natural, though. No one thought twice about it." Callie replies, "Natalie didn't even say mention it. You know she'll cut it out if you ask her to."

"I just don't want it to be distraction to the documentary. I want to just be a pediatric surgeon, not a lesbian pediatric surgeon." She tries to explain, knowing that Callie gets it, but still a little stressed out about it.

"Do you want me to talk to Nat about it?" Callie asks picking up her phone.

"No Calliope, I don't need you to do that. I can handle it myself." The blonde says annoyed.

"Zo, I just want to help. Tell me how to help." The brunette begs.

"Just listen. You don't have to fix it. I just need to process it and figure it out." Arizona reminds her.

"Okay," Callie says leaning in to kiss her.

* * *

"Mark, seriously. You're impossible." Arizona informs him, while she waits impatiently for him to decide which shirt to wear to the airport. "You should wear layers. The temperature always fluctuates between the airport, the plane and the location." She reminds him.

"Okay, okay. Jeez, Zo. I'm good." He says walking back into the living room. "Let's get this stuff down to the Land Rover." He says picking up the two small bags and handing them to her.

Huffing impatiently, she grabs the larger of the two bags and piles the others on top and begins rolling them out the door, "I'm not making two trips, let's go Sloan. I have to be at the hospital in two hours!" She exclaims.

"You're worse than Torres, do you know that?" He remarks as they walk up to the elevator.

"Yeah, right. And she's not here to do this because she scheduled a knee replacement this morning..." The blonde reminds him.

* * *

"We're quite pleased with the footage so far Arizona, but we'd like to follow you a bit more closely now leading up to Callie leaving." Natalie says carefully.

"Why would you focus on Callie leaving? This isn't about us, Natalie. It's about the clinic and the doctors, personal lives aren't part of the deal." Arizona reminds her.

"Arizona, the documentary has tested well, we showed both segments with the kiss and without the kiss and the segment with the kiss has tested better. Trust me. I'm not going to exploit it. I'm not filming a lesbian documentary, but I don't want to avoid what is a part of your story." Natalie reassures her, reaching out to touch her arm.

"Okay, I'm guessing that Callie has already agreed to do it?" She asks, looking up at the friendly green eyes.

"Not exactly, its true that she agreed to do it, but she gave you final say." Natalie informs the blonde.

"Oh, well let's go over your plans then and see what you're thinking." Arizona replies feeling a little better about he whole situation.

* * *

"Let's block the room first, then we'll run it again." Natalie says as the set up shooting in the apartment.

"This is kind of crazy." Callie confesses to Arizona. "You know when I told you to do this, I didn't really think about me being in it this much. I'm crazy nervous."

"You'll forget they're there after awhile," Arizona says flashing a big smile as she repeats what Callie told her when she was beginning the documentary.

"Funny, I just said that to try to help. You're saying it to be mean." Callie pouts.

"No, you really will. Well maybe not here in our apartment, but you'll see in surgery tomorrow. You'll focus on your procedure and they will totally disappear." The blonde says helpfully.

"Ladies, are you both ready to try this again?" Natalie asks, moving them back out to the hall with the things that Callie bought at the mall for the trip.

Natalie moves back into her position beside the camera operator and calls, "Action!"

The two women exit the elevator and struggle with the packages, "Maybe I bought a few extra things, but its Africa, its not like I can just run to the store to get something that I forgot." Callie reminds Arizona.

"Yes, Callie. But I've already been there and I'm telling you, you don't need half of this stuff." The blonde repeats as she tries to unlock the door. "You should just ship some of this to the clinic and not try to pack it all."

"Okay, okay. I'll consider that but first let's get it all in the apartment!" The brunette says smiling and trying to get through the door with all her packages.

"And cut!" Natalie calls out. "Let's set up for the next shot folks."

The next scene is in the bedroom with all of Callie's things spread out as she tries to pack for the trip.

"Arizona, do I need to take these?" She asks holding up two pairs of sandals.

"I just took sport sandals that I could also wear to and from the shower." She advises.

"Didn't you buy those long sleeve blouses?" Arizona asks as she looks through the pile of clothes. "You'll really want long-sleeves, trust me. You'll get tired of smelling like Deet, and long-sleeves are the only other recourse against mosquitoes."

"Well, I have these." Callie shows her a few tops from her closet.

"Take all three of them. Old clothes are good. You'll leave some of them behind anyway, the locals love our clothes. I paid for dinner with an old Columbia windshirt that was faded and torn." Arizona admits.

"I can't believe, I'm going to Africa!" Callie says excitedly as she picks up her pith helmet with the mosquito netting and puts it on.

"You're totally going to hate that hat by day three." The blonde says laughing at her girlfriend.

"And cut." Natalie calls out. "Let them finish packing the suitcase, with just the overhead camera and their personal mics, no boom mic. I want this to be more casual footage." She explains.

* * *

"That's bad, Nat. Cut that part." Callie cries out as they watch the first edit of the new segment.

"It's fine Calliope." Natalie says looking over at the blonde.

"Ha! Now you understand what it's like Cal." Arizona says leaning over to kiss her girlfriend. "It's tough to watch yourself on TV, isn't it?" She teases.

"You're a natural at this Zo. I look awkward all the time. Why am I so awkward? Oh god, is this how I am all the time?" Callie asks panicking.

"NO!", Arizona and Nat say loudly in unison.

"Callie, you look great. Once you get used to the camera, you'll seem more normal. But don't worry. It's a documentary, people know you're not an actress. Arizona was awkward at first too." Natalie replies trying to reassure the brunette.

"Wait, I wasn't awkward. Are you saying I was awkward?" Arizona asks annoyed.

"NO!", Callie and Natalie respond in unison.

"I need more wine." Natalie groans, getting up to get the open bottle from the dining room table.

"Me too." Callie says pouting.

* * *

"Callie? Are you asleep?" Arizona asks rolling over to look at her.

Pulling up her sleepmask, Callie smiles and opens her eyes.

"I think I'm more nervous about you leaving, than I was when I was the one leaving." She confesses.

"It will be fine. Its not like I haven't flown to Africa before and I meet up with the DWB group at JFK and then we'll fly together the rest of the way. I'll call you when I get to Lilongwe." Callie says reaching out to caress her face and then leaning in she kisses her softly.

"I know. I know. Just be careful." She says pulling her in tightly and wrapping herself around her.


	30. Chapter 30

Landing in Lilongwe, Callie is a bit overwhelmed by the heat and the length of the trip. Finally getting checked in and all of her stuff into her room, Callie lays down on the bed and looks at her phone trying to figure out what time it is in Seattle, then she remembered that she set up a world clock app, so she opens the app, it's 3 am in Seattle. Damn she thinks, then pulls out the paperwork and opens her tablet up to set up the WiFi connection and sends off an email to Arizona. Laying back on the bed, she thinks a shower would be amazing, if she could just get up to do it.

* * *

Waking up the next morning, Arizona grabs her phone and checks for a message from Callie.

_Zo, Wow, I am so exhausted and I even slept a bit on the flight over. I'm going to shower and set my alarm to call you soon. Xoxo, C_

Smiling, Arizona sets the phone down and turns on the shower, hoping she can get in and out before Callie calls.

Later in the kitchen drinking coffee and reviewing lab results she hears her phone buzz and looks over to see that Callie is calling her through Facetime.

"Hey? I thought we were going to Skype?" Arizona asks.

"Well, I set up WiFi calling so we could Facetime, I thought it would be easier." Callie says yawning.

"You look like hell Cal." Arizona says sympathetically. Then she adds, "You're so smart, I didn't even know our phone had WiFi calling."

"That's why I stopped at the Apple store last week. I wanted to make sure our phone account was set up for international usage." Callie replies. "Hey you're still at home.

"Yeah, my surgery was postponed, so I am working from home this morning." The blonde explains, "I also postponed the shoot today. Natalie wasn't very happy but she agreed." Embarrassed, Arizona looks away from the screen.

"What's going on Zo?" Callie asks concerned.

"I-I may have lost it at the airport yesterday after you left." The blonde admits reluctantly.

"Wait, you what?" Callie asks still confused.

"It was hard seeing you go and I'm crying, then I turn around and see the film crew and I just pretty much told them all to go to hell and stormed out of the airport. Natalie came after me and calmed me down, then we agreed that she'd step back and give me a break to adjust to you being gone. So today, they're only doing background shots." Arizona explains.

"I'm sorry Arizona. I know how much it sucks to be left behind. And now I know how hard it was to leave, I cried almost the whole way to JFK." Callie admits to her.

* * *

"Nat, thank you for giving me some space. I didn't realize how hard it would be to see Callie off yesterday." Arizona has pulled the director aside to apologize for yesterday.

"Arizona, I can only imagine. Don't worry about it. Production schedule changes happen all the time. Look, Jen and I want you want to have dinner with us tonight?" Natalie says reaching over to squeeze her hand.

"You know I really am not looking forward to going home to an empty apartment," Arizona admits, "I'll call you when I'm done."

"Sounds good." Natalie replies, watching the blonde leave.

* * *

"Callie, how was your flight?" Natalie asks, not really surprised to get a call from her today.

"It was long. Have you seen Arizona today?" Callie asks her friend.

"Yes and I think we're having dinner tonight." Natalie informs her. "I take it she told you about yesterday?"

"Yeah. Thank you for being there. When she was gone, I had Mark. So I'm just really glad that you're there, Nat."

"Don't worry Cal. Jen and I will take her out to dinner and then drop her off at the apartment." The redhead informs her friend. "We've got this."

* * *

"Thank you for dinner Nat, I'm sorry that I'm such terrible company. Apologize to Jen for me." Arizona says as the red head walks her up to her door.

"I promised Callie that I wouldn't let you go home alone tonight, so I'm just going to walk you in." Natalie explains to her.

"Now I feel stupid," Arizona confesses as she unlocks the door.

"Don't." Natalie says following her into the apartment. "Callie knows what this feels like, remember she had Mark across the hall. I don't mind. You know, I think this is the most that we've actually talked without Callie around."

"That's what I love about having Callie around, she does all the talking!" Arizona says joking.

"Okay, well promise to let us know if you need anything?" The red head says pausing to grin at the blonde.

"Get out of here, Jen's had a horrible evening and you owe her!" Arizona says shoving her friend out the door. "And thank you to both of you." She calls out reopening the door.

* * *

"Dr Robbins?" Izzy knocks lightly on the office door.

"What's up Stevens?" Arizona asks after she turns around.

"I wanted to talk with you about the Seavers case. His labs came back, white count is sky high, I think we need to recheck his scans." She explains.

"I saw that. Let's go, I have an idea." Arizona says standing up and grabbing her things off the desk.

Izzy steps out of her way and follows her down the hall, she didn't expect that response.

"Hey there Jason!" Arizona says skating into his room.

"Dr Robbins!", the little boy replies. "Where's all the people?"

"They're not here today, it's just me and Dr Stevens. Now I need you to tell me what's going on, Jason. How do you feel?" Arizona says to the young boy.

Izzy just stands back in awe of Arizona's bedside manner. She gets the boy to open up and admit that he has more pain than he previously had admitted in front of his Dad.

* * *

Leaving the child's room, Arizona looks at her and asks, "Now what do we do?"

Thinking for a moment, Izzy replies, "We need to do a CT scan with contrast, he may have an inguinal hernia."

"You were right to admit him last night and colitis was a good first diagnosis. The high white count and the abdominal pain were the same as the case we had last month." Arizona admits, "But you have to figure out how to get kids to really tell you what's going on. And it helps if you can get their parents out of the room, sometimes they're embarrassed by the pain or nervous about why they have the pain."

"You're really good with kids. I can see why you became a pediatric surgeon." Izzy says as they stop at the nurses station to order the new test.

"You are good with kids too. But I can tell that they still scare you a little bit." Arizona comments, "Now go find his parents and get them to sign off on the test and I'll reserve an OR. I'm pretty sure we'll need it this afternoon."

* * *

Walking back into her office, she feels her phone buzz. Pulling it out of her pocket she see's that it's Callie.

"Oh hi!" She says stepping into her office and accepting the call.

"You sound like you're having a good morning." Callie says smiling into the screen.

"And you look like you're finally over the jet lag." Arizona teases her.

"We will see how long it takes you to recover," Callie can barely hide her excitement that her training is almost over and they will be together in a few days.

"You have good timing. I just saw a new patient and it looks like I'll be repairing a inguinal hernia this afternoon." Arizona tells her girlfriend. "I have to say, now that the documentary team is gone, it's really nice to just practice medicine again. Unfortunately, they are on their way to the clinic."

"They are staying here, so I'll see Natalie and Jen tomorrow afternoon. Did Mark make it back from Honduras?" Callie asks, "I've called him a few times but he hasn't answered or returned my calls."

"Oh, he decided to stay in Roatan at a resort for a few days. I've got Karev to take me to the airport now. And I gave Lexie a key to our place, she's moving into Cristina's old room and she's going to pay utilities while we're gone." The blonde informs her girlfriend.

"Okay good. I was worried about Karev staying there, he's probably as bad as Cristina at housekeeping. With Lexie, we'll probably come home to a cleaner apartment than we left." Callie says laughing.

"I just hope it doesn't make things weird for her and Mark to be across the hall from one another. She says she can handle it. I think she's dating that new resident from Mercy West." Arizona says raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, the one with the sexy eyes?" Callie asks.

"You think one of the new residents has sexy eyes?" Arizona asks suddenly.

"Well, not me. Lexie said it. She said he had sexy eyes." Callie says defensively.

"Ha! He does have sexy eyes." Arizona says teasing her.

"God I miss you. What time are you done tonight? Maybe I'll go to bed early and call you at bedtime?" Callie says flashing a mischievous smile.

"Callie, you really think you're going to get up at 630 am for phone sex? You don't even get up that early for real sex!" Arizona teases her again.

"Okay, okay. I just really can't wait to see you. I don't know what it is about this place. Were you, you know? When you were over here?" Callie asks.

"No, why do you think I went running every morning." Arizona informs her.

"I don't run. But I could swim laps in the pool. Okay, maybe I'll do that." Callie replies.

"Okay, but use the indoor pool if its early morning." The blonde points out, "There are snakes in the outdoor pool every morning, they have to fish them out."

"What?!" Oh my god, we swam out there yesterday!" Callie says frightened.

"Its fine, they remove them every morning." Arizona replies.

* * *

Stepping off the small plane in Lilongwe, Arizona takes a deep breathe and looks over at Greg, James and Madison. They are all trying to find their bags as they are unloaded from the luggage berth of the small plane.

"Guys, it really doesn't matter who's is who's. Let's just load everything on the cart and get it into the shuttle bus." The blonde points out.

"Oh, good point Arizona." James says shaking his head. They are all quite tired, their flight to Johannesburg was turbulent, so none of them got much sleep on the long flight.

Moving to greet their escorts, Arizona speaks the little bit of Chichewe that she knows, before switching to French, when they both realize they have that language in common.

"Okay guys, let's load up and go to the resort for tonight." She tells them as they all move towards the shuttle bus, the guys pushing the luggage cart.

* * *

Stepping out of the shuttle, Arizona stops in her tracks when she see Callie waiting by the door. Then quickly moves to embrace her. "I think I forgot how beautiful you are for a second." Arizona says holding her closely.

"We need to get up to the room as soon as possible, or I'm going to get us shot by kissing you in public." Callie whispers into her ear.

Flashing a knowing smile, Arizona steps back over to the van as they are unloading the bags and quickly plucks hers out of the pile, thanks to those bright pink ribbons. Turning around with the loaded cart, she tells Callie, "Lead the way."

* * *

Once in the room, they finally kiss. Then Arizona pulls away. "Calliope, don't hate me, but I'm dying for a shower. I've had these same clothes on for over 24 hours." She explains.

"Don't worry, I understand. Look, I'll go start your shower and you can get you things situated." The brunette offers.

"Callie?" Arizona hears the water running, but Callie never came back out of the bathroom, so she goes back in to find her waiting for her.

"You didn't think I was going to let you shower alone, did you?" Callie says thickly.

"Hmm, what a nice surprise, but I really need to get in there for a few minutes without you." Arizona says grimacing. "But then I totally want you in here with me." She adds.

Wrapping a towel around herself and leaving the bathroom Callie looks a little disappointed but she does understand.

Stepping into the shower, Arizona practically moans, the water feels so good.

Out in the other room, Callie hears her and puts her head in her hands. "Dios dame fuerza!" She exclaims in Spanish. (God give me strength.)

Moving over to one of the beds, she turns down the sheets. They had to have two beds, because gay and lesbians are not accepted in this country, or even in Africa really. Malawi actually has similar laws to Uganda, but the new prime minister is trying to repeal them, so they are not enforced. However, the sentiment behind the laws is still the prevalent attitude, so they agreed to be careful. Then taking a moment, Callie goes over and turns the other bed down too. What the hell, she thinks, they'll just take turns sleeping in both beds. That will keep housekeeping out of their room.

"Hey, I was beginning to wonder if you left." Arizona says thickly as Callie slips into the shower with her.

"No chance. I've been thinking about this for two weeks." The brunette says kissing her and pulling her in so their bodies are touching. "My god you feel so good. I've missed this. I've missed you."

"Oh god, Cal. I'm so tired, but you feel so good." The blonde says deepening the kiss and leaning into her, so she can slip a hand down to feel her arousal.

"Mmm," Callie says as she slips two fingers into the blonde. Then pushes her up against the wall of the shower and kisses her as they move together.

Gasping, Arizona comes first moaning into Callie's mouth. "Oh god, Callie." She says breathlessly, still moving her hand as Callie is close. Dipping her head, she takes a taut nipple into her mouth and gently applies pressure until Callie cries out and shudders.

"Okay, let's get you to bed." Callie says looking into her girlfriend's tired eyes.


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: here's a long chapter to tide you over for the week. I may not post again until Sunday. I've got a busy week and my nephew graduates high school, so I'll be out of town for a day or two. Only three sleeps before the season finale!**

"Steve, everything looks great. Are we on schedule?" Arizona asks the contractor as they tour the construction site.

"We're actually ahead of schedule." He says. "Its good that you're here Dr Robbins, now, we can go over the plans and make the choices for the next phase and stay ahead of schedule."

"Okay, let's get started." Arizona says following him into the construction office.

* * *

At the hospital in Lilongwe Callie is on rounds today, when she gets paged to the ER. Entering the trauma room, she looks around and is unsure if any of the medical team speaks English.

"What do we have here?" She asks stepping into the room.

The doctors look at each other and then one of them begins to speak, in English.

"24 year old male, fell off a moving truck and was ran over by the trailer it was towing. He has multiple internal injuries and possibly both legs are broken and a hip dislocation." He replies with a slight accent.

"Okay, let's get the portable x-ray in here so we can see what we've got." Callie says looking up, then going back to finish the examination, she notices two broken fingers and she easily sets them.

"Let me know when the films are ready and give him 10 mg of morphine." The brunette says as she steps out of the room while the technician takes the x-rays.

* * *

Natalie and her team are out getting background shots today and they are ending the day at the clinic site. She smiles when she spots Arizona crossing the compound.

"Hey Nat, how is it going today?" The blonde asks as she approaches her.

"It's good. Steve says he's ahead of schedule?" Natalie remarks. "And we've got everyone in your group signed off on the documentary." The redhead says happily, then adds, "Oh and Steve helped me find an interpreter to help us get locals to agree to participate too. She says smiling at the blonde. "So be honest. Are you sick of having me around yet?"

"You're like a rock in my shoe at this point." Arizona says smiling back at her. "Hey have you heard from Callie today?"

"No but Madison texted that they were headed into surgery, a guy was run over with multiple broken bones." The redhead says laughing.

"Oh, she's going to be a good mood tonight. We should stay in and celebrate!" Arizona remarks, noting that Madison and Nat have exchanged number, interesting she thinks.

"I'm afraid I'm not going to make it. Jen's dad is sick and she's returning to LA tomorrow." Natalie explains.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope he's going to be okay." Arizona replies, looking at her carefully before adding, "Um, you don't look too upset."

"I'm not. I'm relieved actually. I kind of rushed into this thing with Jen and didn't consider how much time that we'd spend together on this documentary. I have a bad habit of getting involved with my producers." Natalie admits sheepishly.

"And your leads?" Arizona teases as she sits down on the makeshift bench left by the construction crew.

"No, that was just a rumor. Jamie and I never did have an affair, though she did set it up to look like we did. Funny that being bisexual is now seen as a benefit to your career." She jokes, sitting down beside her.

They both share a laugh, then Natalie looks around for and asks, "Uh, what is this building? It kind of looks like a barn."

"This is part of the self sustaining aspect of the clinic, we're going to have a garden, livestock and a barn. So I finally get my chickens." The blonde laughs.

"Chickens?" Natalie asks.

"My grandmother in Georgia had chickens and I loved going out and feeding them, they would follow me all over the yard." She confesses. "I keep telling Callie that we have to get a house so I can have chickens. You can imagine how she feels about that!"

"That is quite a visual, Arizona. No, I can't see Callie Torres wanting anything to do with a live chicken. Now, I can imagine you as a child, I bet your mother has stories for days." Natalie says laughing.

"Note to self, do not let Natalie meet Mom." The blonde jokes.

"Ha, mom's love me. I get all the juicy stories easily." Natalie replies, then realizes that she's practically flirting with her friend's girlfriend.

'Maybe I should head back to the hotel now." Arizona says awkwardly.

"You could ride back with us, the crew should be packed up now." Natalie says as the blonde walks away from her. "Arizona? Really, I didn't mean anything by that, it's just been a while since I've had someone like you in my life."

The blonde walks back over to her, "Someone like me?", she questions.

"You're a private person. In this business, I don't meet many of them. I'm usually surrounded by people who want their fifteen minutes of fame any way they can get it. And you've been fighting me for your privacy from day one. It's refreshing." Natalie admits. "Come on, let's check on the crew." She says nudging the blonde with her shoulder.

* * *

The ride back to the hotel is loud, but Arizona sits quietly in her own thoughts. She can't believe that she's in Africa, the clinic is being built and Callie's with her. It's everything that she wanted six months ago and the only price she's had to pay so far is the documentary, which technically is benefiting the clinic. Then there's Natalie, first Arizona was concerned with her and Callie's friendship, now she finds herself growing closer to her. She's not someone the blonde would usually befriend or even date. Not that she's thinking of her that way.

* * *

Stepping out of the shower Arizona hears Callie's voice in the other room, so she wraps up in a towel and cracks the door open to make sure she's alone in the room.

Hanging up the phone, Callie turns around and see's Arizona. "Hey, I was going to join you, but I had a phone call from Lexie, she couldn't figure out the TV." The brunette says animatedly.

"Oh god, you're wound up. How much coffee did you drink today Cal?" Arizona says wincing slightly as Callie spins back around to face her.

"It's not coffee. I just repaired a guys broken legs with intramedullary nails!" Callie says rushing over to her. "Intramedullary nails, Arizona." She repeats.

Laughing, Arizona pulls her in and kisses her. "I was going to say that we stay in tonight, but now I'm worried to be alone with you..."

"Funny. I'm going to grab a shower and then we can go to dinner." She says undressing. "Oh how's the clinic going?"

"It's ahead of schedule."Arizona says happily. "Hey did you talk with Natalie today? Jen is heading back to LA."

"Maybe we can fix her up with Madison, so she'll quit stalking you!" Callie says taking Arizona's towel and heading into the shower.

"Hey, its cold out here!" Arizona calls after her.

"It's warm in here..."Callie replies playfully.

* * *

Walking into the dining room, Arizona is a little embarrassed that they are late and everyone has started without them. "You know, we'll just get our own table, you guys are almost done eating." She explains to the group.

"Nonsense, we want to hear about Dr Torres' surgery today. Did you really use intramedullary nails?" James asks.

Rolling her eyes as Callie rushes to sit down by James to tell him all about the procedure. She's so caught up in the story that Arizona just pulls the server aside and orders for both of them while her girlfriend talks.

* * *

"You were half way through your dinner before you even realized what it was." Arizona says laughing as she opens the door to their room.

"Okay, okay, maybe I was a little excited. But Zo, this is an amazing experience. I haven't been this excited about medicine since I began my ortho residency." Callie responds, pulling Arizona to her and kissing her softly.

"I can't believe that I'm about to say this, but I am really glad that I came to Africa. This is going to be awesome." Callie says laughing, unable to stop smiling.

"I hope you still feel that way in about a month, when we open the clinic and are no longer living in a hotel." Arizona says caressing her face.

* * *

"So you weren't even surprised when I told you Jen was leaving." Arizona says the next morning over breakfast.

"No, Nat had pretty much already told me that she'd made a mistake getting involved with her. I didn't know about her dad though. I hope that it's nothing serious." Callie admits taking a sip of her coffee and grimacing. "I emailed Mark and told him to please send us a coffee care package, this stuff is horrible."

"Oh is he back in Seattle?" Arizona asks, taking a bite of her fruit filled crepe.

"According to Lexie, he is very tan and healthy looking." Callie says before taking a bite of her omelette.

"Was she okay?", the blonde asks worried about the young doctor.

"She sounded fine. I just can't believe Mark is avoiding my calls." Callie says annoyed.

Just then their phone beep, "Oh hey, look its an email from him." Arizona says taking her phone and opening it. "He's not avoiding your calls, the big goof dropped his phone in the ocean. And he finally got a Seattle number, let's call him now. It's what 10:30 at night there?" She says calling him and putting it on speaker phone.

"Dr. Mark Sloan." He says answering.

"Hey Mark," Arizona replies. "How was South America?"

"Oh hey, you got my email. It was amazing, I can't tell you how many surgeries I did down there." He begins.

"How's Ana Maria?" Callie asks, finally speaking.

"Call! I wondered why blondie was calling me. You're pissed. I can tell by your email. Look, my phone didn't work down there anyway, so when I dropped it in the surf. I didn't bother to get another one until I got back." He explains.

"Whatever Sloan. You better send me everything on that list and don't wait too long. We're moving into the clinic soon." Callie replies.

"You know, just send it to the clinic Mark, I'll send you the address. Callie, it's probably better if he sends it to you there anyway." Arizona explains.

* * *

"And action!" Natalie calls out as they follow Arizona and Callie into the Lilongwe hospital for the first day of shooting there.

Walking down the halls Arizona can't help but smile as she watches many of the doctors avoiding them, unlike Seattle where they all wanted to be included. Their first patient is a pregnant mother, which isn't a case that she and Callie would usually share, but Callie is training now to help at the clinic, which means an obstetrics and pediatric surgery rotation.

"How are you today Yal?" Arizona asks in Chichewe. The woman responds and Arizona repeats it for everyone. "She's having concerns about her baby, she's been spotting and experiencing pain that comes and goes."

"I'll get the ultrasound," Callie says moving across the room to get the machine and move it over to the exam table.

Arizona turns back to the patient and tries to explain what they need to do to check on the baby. The nurse helps her explain it and finally Yal nods okay. The nurse continues to explain what the procedure, while Callie gets the machine set up. Smiling, Callie hands Arizona the tube, but she hands it back to her.

"Go ahead," Arizona says to her.

Stepping up to the exam table, Callie looks at the nurse before she touches the wand to the patient. She's a little bit flustered, knowing that the patient can't understand her.

"Just tell her what you're doing and we'll translate. Go ahead Dr Torres." She says encouraging.

"Okay, so this may be a little cold," she says squeezing the gel on the patient's abdomen. The nurse translates and Callie smiles, then the young woman flinches as the gel touches her and Callie jumps.

"Oh, sorry. Okay, now this may feel warm after awhile, but it won't burn you." Callie says moving the wand slowly across her skin as Arizona looks intently at the monitor.

After a few minutes, Arizona reaches over and grabs Callie's hand and moves it back and then Callie sees it. The placenta is detaching from the uterine wall.

Arizona steps away to the phone on the wall and calls the hospital Chief of Staff, "This is Dr Robbins, Dr Cervantes, is there a fetal echocardiogram available? We have a patient with a detached placenta." She explains.

Walking back over to the patient, Arizona puts her hand on the wand and Callie relinquishes it and steps back to give her room. "Don't repeat this to the patient," she says to the nurse smiling. "We need to do our best to determine if the baby has lung and heart functions, because we need to deliver it in the next few days." Moving the wand carefully, over the baby she smiles. "Callie, do you see the chest moving?"

"Yes, that definitely looks like he's got movement in the chest wall. Now there was no blood trapped in the uterus, so that's a good sign, we don't have to take the baby today?" Callie asks.

"Right, so let's give her some ACS and hope for the best." Arizona says turning to look at her girlfriend.

Then back to the nurse she nods and begins explaining it to the patient, while the nurse translates it.

* * *

Moving out into the hall, Arizona takes a deep breath and looks at the camera. "The mother has a placental abruption, which means the placenta is detaching from the uterine wall. This puts her and the baby at risk. We will have another look tomorrow with a Doppler, which is better than what we had today, but it still is difficult to determine how far along the baby's development is without the fetal echocardiogram. Also we're going to run a quantitative blood test, which will help us determine how many weeks old the fetus is. We're hoping to be a close to 37 weeks as possible, but the mother is underweight, so it's very difficult to know without these tests." She explains.

Callie adds, "This is a high risk pregnancy no matter where you are."

Moving down the hall, the step into the next exam room and see a very young pregnant mother. Fortunately, she is healthy, but to Arizona's surprise, she's almost full term. Excitedly, Arizona talks to her about what will happen next. The nurse has to help her explain and they all smile in relief after the intensity of the first patient.

* * *

"Hey, I just need a moment." Arizona says to Natalie, once she calls cut. Stepping away from the cameras, the blonde ducks into the lounge and sits down. Callie follows her, but isn't sure what to do, so she sits down beside her.

Arizona turns away from her and puts her head in her hands. Callie lightly sets her hand on her back and gently pats her. This is not normal behavior for her girlfriend, so Callie is at a loss as to how to respond.

Finally, Arizona stands up and goes over to the sink and runs water, splashing it into her face. Grabbing paper towels, she dabs her face dry and turns around.

"Damn!" She swears softly. "In four weeks, I will have everything that I need today to save that mother and baby." She says frustrated. "Today I have nothing!" She says loudly, slamming her hand down on the counter.

"You have you." Callie says standing up and walking towards her, "You don't have nothing. You know more about this than anyone else in this hospital, this woman and her baby have a chance Arizona, they have a chance simply because you're here."

Arizona looks at her girlfriend and crosses her arms, leaning back on the sink. Smiling shyly, she says, "Thank you."

Moving in to give her a hug, Callie says, "You're welcome."

* * *

Out in the hall, Natalie watches the whole thing, wishing she had captured it on film. Instead she tells everyone to take a break and she pulls out her notebook and writes down what she saw. This will make an amazing scene for the tv show.

She quickly writes down the dialogue that she was able to hear and sketches out the scene as best she can. Hopefully, she can talk with them about it later and get more detail about what they were feeling.

* * *

"Are you sure that you're up for this rotation Callie? I can pull Madison or Greg in on it instead." Arizona says later as they lay together on the bed.

"No, I'm fine. It's hard, I'll admit. But this is the reality of it. I mean the clinic is here to help women and children, so this is what I've signed on for, there may be a few ortho cases, but this is going to be the norm." She says staring into weary blue eyes.

"Well, there won't be a lot of surgical cases, you're right. Although the ones we get will be difficult, because we won't have the things that we're used to having in the OR, so we'll have to be creative and innovative." Arizona admits.

"I'm glad that we're doing this together." Callie says intertwining their hands and kissing her fingers.

Smiling, Arizona nuzzles closer to her and closes her eyes. "Me too, Calliope. Me too."


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: Wow, Sara Ramirez looks amazing as always at the ABC Upfronts in NYC this week!**

"I've got to take the baby now." Arizona says firmly to Callie. "Can you take care of the abrupted placenta?"

"Yes, yes. I've got it." Callie says confidently. Really she knows that even if she does everything correctly, the mother could still bleed out on her table. But she can't think about that now as she watches Arizona complete the c-section and remove the tiny baby.

"Okay, I need some suction," Callie calls out as she begins to search for the main bleeders and suture as quickly as she can. Madison looks on in awe at the speed of the surgeon. She finds and clamps bleeders so quickly the younger doctor can barely keep up.

Pausing a minute to see if there are more, Callie looks up at the monitors. Her pressure is good, that's a really good sign. Turning her head, she calls over to Arizona. "How's the baby?"

"She's good, pinking up now." Arizona says hopefully, still doing chest compressions waiting for the her to cry. "How's the mother?"

"Good. Pressure is coming back. I think I've got them all." Callie says allowing herself a small smile as the doctors begin packing the uterus to put pressure on the bleeders that were repaired.

Suddenly the baby cries and you can feel everyone's collective breath releasing. But then the monitor goes off, "pressure is dropping." Madison calls out.

Removing the packing, Callie carefully looks for another bleeder. "Oh god," she says, "the sutures didn't hold. There's nothing here to suture now." A little frantic, Callie keeps repeating, "No, no, no."

"Madison, come over here and take this baby to the NICU." Arizona calls out to the younger doctor.

Then moving in beside Callie to help, she gasps. There's so much blood, the woman is bleeding out right in front of them. "Turn on the auto-infuser." Arizona calls out, this will buy them a little time.

"What if we do a uterine artery embolization?" Arizona asks out loud.

Callie looks over at her nervously, "Will that work?" she asks.

"I don't know. But it works for uterine bleeding so it's worth a try." She explains, then to the tech she yells, "Get me a cauterization kit!"

"Okay, Dr Torres, clamp that artery again and then let's try to clear the field as much as possible." Arizona directs before taking the cauterization wand and directing it at the uterine wall, the bleeding slows down. So she hands the wand to Callie and slips around the table, so she can do the other side. Finally all that's left is the artery that Callie has clamped.

They take a deep breath and look at each other. "Wait, let me stitch it first, then you can cauterize it." Callie suggests.

Nodding, Arizona agrees and sets the wand down and takes a hold of the clamp. Callie quickly stitches the end of the artery together. Arizona hands her back the clamp and picks up the cauterization wand again, then nods at Callie.

As Arizona begins to cauterize the artery, Callie releases the clamp. They hold their breath as they wait to see if it will work.

"Dr Robbins? Dr Carson is asking for you," the nurse says from the doorway.

"Go!" Callie says sharply, "I've got this."

Without hesitation, Arizona rips off her gown and heads out to check on the baby. "Where is she?" She asks the nurse, as she runs down the hall to the NICU.

"Hey do you want me to go ahead and..." Madison says looking up as Arizona approaches.

"Dr Carson, what do you need?" Arizona looks around confused. The baby is stable, there's no emergency.

"Oh she's fine. I just wanted to double check with you on the med amounts, I'm not experienced in neonatal..."

"Not now!" Arizona yells at her and turns to run back down the hall to the OR.

Just as she steps into the OR, she hears Callie call out, "Time of death 14:28." Turning away from the table, Callie looks up and spots Arizona standing in the doorway. She shakes her head and tears off her gown as she walks out silently.

"Damn it." Arizona cries out, then walking over to the table, she sees that the cauterization didn't hold on the artery and she bleed out on the table. It would have happened with her there, it's not Callie's fault.

* * *

Walking back down the hall, Arizona isn't surprised to see Callie standing over the baby in the NICU. "Is she going to make it?" She asks softly.

"I'm not sure yet. But she's got a good chance," the blonde replies, before turning away to check the chart and review everything that Madison asked her to earlier.

The rest of the day is solemn, Callie and Arizona ride back to the hotel in silence, while Madison chats with Greg and James in the front of the van.

"What will happen to her now?" Callie asks the blonde.

"I-I'm not sure. I'll have to check with the hospital to find out the protocol." Arizona replies.

* * *

"Callie, you did everything right." Arizona whispers to her as they lay in bed that night, the blonde in the big spoon position.

"I know, but we were so close to having it under control," Callie says tearfully.

Kissing her hair, Arizona just holds her until they both fall asleep.

* * *

It's been two weeks and the baby is thriving in the NICU, Arizona is meeting with the hospital administrator to get permission to move the baby to the clinic, until they can determine if any family members will step in to care for her. So far the family is afraid that she will die, so they haven't even visited her.

"The clinic is closer to the family and once they see that she is healthy, they will take care of her." Arizona is explaining her plan to the committee. "And if she isn't healthy, then I can get her the care that she needs."

"This will be a transfer of care, but we'll need to designate someone as the child's guardian, Dr Robbins." The administrator replies, "In addition, the guardian must agree to be financially responsible for the child for the interim."

"Give me the paperwork, I'll fill it out right now." Arizona says decisively.

* * *

Riding back to the clinic with the baby, Arizona is freaking out a bit. She's practically adopted a baby without even talking to Callie about it. But Callie loves babies and she really loves this one, so what's the worst that could happen? Then it occurs to her, the worst thing that could happen would be for the baby to die or the family to take her.

As soon as the van pulls up, Callie rushes out to greet her. "How did it go? What did they say?" She asks practically pulling the blonde out of the passenger seat.

Arizona looks at Greg and James and then slides open the van door to reveal the baby in a NICU transport crib in the back. "We got her!" She says smiling.

"Oh thank god." Callie says tearfully.

* * *

After they get the baby settled in one of the ICU rooms at the clinic and then review the care plan with the nurse, Arizona and Callie finally head down to the dining hall for dinner.

"I can't believe they let you bring her to the clinic, Arizona. Do you think the family will visit her now that she's out of the hospital?" Callie asks.

Looking away a moment, then back to those soft brown eyes, Arizona says softly, "I don't know Cal, but I do know that the longer she stays here, the better off she will be."

"Dr Robbins? We need your signature on these forms." The clinic administrator says dropping a stack of forms on the table.

"Can't these wait until she's in the office?" Callie asks. confused as to why they would bring forms to Arizona when she's eating dinner.

"These are the patient forms for the new patient. They need to be completed upon admission." The woman explains.

Confused, Callie reaches for the stack of papers, but Arizona covers her hand. "Calliope, uh, there's something I need to tell you." She says licking her lips nervously.

"Arizona? I don't understand, just tell me." Callie pleads.

"I am the temporary legal guardian for the baby." She explains, "It was the only way that I could get her out of the hospital."

"Wait...what?" Callie can't believe what she's hearing. About the only thing the two of them don't agree on is children. Callie wants them and Arizona wants to wait, but now she's practically adopted a 2 week old preemie?

"Arizona what happens in a few months when we go home to Seattle?" Callie asks.

"I'm not sure." The blonde confesses. "But I just couldn't leave her at the hospital Callie, you know how high infant mortality rates are here? And for premature babies, they are even higher. The only way she has a chance is if we take care of her here at the clinic. Besides, we don't know if they will even approve me for full legal guardianship." She adds.

"You applied for full guardianship?" Callie asks stunned. "Arizona, then you should at least give her a name, it's been two weeks and she still doesn't have a name." Callie points out.

Arizona thinks for a minute as she stares at the form. The very first question on the form is patient name. Taking a deep breath, she looks intently at Callie and then begins writing.

"Zara Tiana Robbins?" Callie reads out loud. "Arizona, you had a name picked out?" The Latina cannot believe what is happening.

"Zara means beautiful in Swahili. On my first trip to Africa, I met a little girl named Zara." She explains, then looking over at Callie, she continues. "The first peds patient that I lost was named Tiana, she was three years old."

Tearing up and grabbing the blonde's hand, Callie says softly, "it's the perfect name, Zara Tiana."

* * *

Coming back from her early morning run with Greg, Arizona decides to check in on Zara again.

"Hey, you're up early?", she says entering Zara's room to see Callie's sitting beside the cube.

"I couldn't sleep after you got up. I just had to come in and check on her." Callie explains, looking up from the cube.

Walking over the them, Arizona smiles sadly, "Calliope, she's doing well, but anything can happen and I don't want you to get your hopes up."

"Don't worry, I haven't said anything to anyone." Callie says standing up and putting her arm around the blonde.

* * *

"Greg, James and Madison are going out into the field with me today. Callie is staying here with Jess and Steve and will handle any walk ins." Arizona says briefing everyone on the day's plan. Turning to Natalie, she smiles. "Your team is staying here at the clinic today. This is our first trip out to the field and we are trying to establish trust with the community, as we discussed yesterday, we won't be able to do that with a film crew along."

Pulling Arizona aside before she walks out front, Natalie says, "I still disagree. Every trip we've made out to get local color shots, we've been swamped with people Arizona. I think we would be more help than hindrance, but it is your call."

Looking over at Natalie, Arizona smiles at her, but simply walks off, she's done talking about it. In fact, she really wants the documentary crew to leave now that the clinic is open. It is a real distraction, not to mention the extra daily decisions that come with having them here. She spoke with Callie about it last night and hopefully, she will have time to talk with Natalie about it today.

* * *

"Well, that was fairly successful. Let's unpack the truck and see how the team here did today." Arizona says as they pull up to the clinic.

Grabbing a handful of stuff, Arizona turns to see Natalie waiting for her. "We need to talk Arizona," she says firmly.

"Okay, I'll meet you in the office in a few minutes," the blonde replies, then looks up to see Steve, so she hands him the stuff that she was carrying. And heads into the clinic.

* * *

"I had an interesting talk with Callie today. You are the legal guardian of the baby from the hospital." Natalie begins as Arizona enters the room and sits down at the desk.

Then moving to sit on the corner of the desk, she adds "Arizona is this why you want us to leave?"

Looking down at her hands a moment, Arizona considers her point. "Natalie, I don't know what will happen with this child. But now that the clinic is open, there is so much more for me to do. Not only am I planning what the clinic staff does every day, I also have to sit down with you and figure out you're schedule too and it's just too much right now. And we talked about this, I had reservations about this from the beginning, you knew it was a possibility." She adds defensively.

"I just thought that you would talk with me before it got to this point." Natalie says softly. "Look, why don't we go on background the rest of the week. We'll keep everything to a minimum and you'll see us but we won't be in the way. If anything significant happens, we film it and then we edit it together. You still have control over the medical and your own personal shots. I will keep the baby footage to a minimum, but you have to admit, it certainly adds to your story." She says smiling at the blonde.

"Natalie, infant mortality is 40-60% in this country. For a baby born premature, its closer to 95%. This baby is barely 5 pounds and she's three weeks old. She's already a miracle, my biggest fear is that the family will claim her. Toddlers have a 30% mortality rate, AIDS is a reality for most of the population. So much can happen to her here, it's terrifying." Arizona says, then leaning forward to look Natalie in the eyes, she adds, "You know Callie has already fallen in love with her, so you can only imagine what's going to happen if we don't take her home with us. It will devastate her and I don't want that in the documentary. I don't want a reminder of this if we fail to get her out of here."

Stunned, Natalie sits back watching Arizona wipe the tears from her eyes. "Okay, I get that. And the bottom line is that I want this to work out for you. I want this clinic to be a success. Look, we'll leave next week. We have a lot of footage to edit and I need to get some writing done while this is fresh in my head," she says pausing. Then leaning over she touches the blonde's arm, "take care of yourself Arizona, I understand that you're worried about Callie, but she's not the one who has practically adopted a baby in Malawi."

Looking over at Natalie, Arizona sees gentle caring in her green eyes. "Thank you." She says moving to cover her hand. Then standing up, the blonde pulls her in for a hug. "Thank you for understanding."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, I kind of surprised myself with this chapter, but I think it works. What do you think?**

**And I want to make it clear that Natalie and Arizona are not a thing, as you can tell, I'm totally re-writing their story, so AZ's not a cheater and Callie's not having Mark's baby. **


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: Those of you who didn't want the baby to happen will be disappointed going forward. But after the season finale, I just wanted our gals to have some happy. If you don't want to read that type of story, then maybe you'll like the one I just started called, "Chill In the Air". For those of you staying with this story, enjoy it, I'm trying to post 3 chapters including this one, before Thursday. **

* * *

The day was quite hot, typical weather for Malawi, but hot nonetheless. Callie and Arizona are sitting in the administrator's apartment, Zara is finally out of the NICU cube and able to be in a regular crib. They just fed her and both are still in awe of the baby in their midst.

"I have to admit, when I decided to come to Africa, I had no idea it could be this amazing," Callie says glancing over at the blonde as they both gaze at the beautiful sleeping baby.

Leaning over the crib, Arizona kisses the brunette and sighs contentedly. "Africa is full of surprises." She admits.

Interrupted by the pinging of the laptop, Arizona reaches over to the table to see who it is.

"Oh, hey Mom." She says turning around to face the screen.

"Arizona, how is everything going?" she asks as Callie leans into the screen.

"It's going well, Barbara!" Callie replies, just then Zara wakes up and coos.

Confusion spreads across Barbara's face as she recognizes the unmistakable sound of a baby, "Is there a baby with you?" She asks.

As Arizona hems and haws on how to explain this to her mother, Callie turns around and picks up Zara.

"We delivered her about 6 weeks ago, she was premature and her mother didn't make it. She's an orphan now, so we've been taking care of her here at the clinic." Callie explains. Then adds, "Her name is Zara."

"Zara?" Barbara repeats. "Arizona? A baby named Zara is in your apartment?"

"Mom, I'm kind of the baby's legal guardian." Arizona finally responds.

"Arizona you've adopted a baby in Malawi?" The older blonde woman asks, "And you didn't think to tell us?"

"Mom, I didn't adopt her, I just filed for guardianship so we could move her from the hospital to the clinic." Arizona explains. "We don't know what's going to happen. It took her over a month to gain enough weight to get out of the NICU. She's only recently well enough that we were able to move her out of the clinic and into a crib here in our room." The blonde continues. "There's still a chance that the extended family will decide to take her home."

Quietly, Barbara watches Callie holding the baby girl. As Arizona talks, the baby tracks her voice and reaches out for her.

"Why don't you just go ahead and adopt her honey? Why give them a chance to decide to be her family, when it's obvious that you and Callie have already given her a home?" Barbara asks softly, watching her daughter turn and take the baby from Callie.

"Mom, it's not that easy." Arizona says looking down at the smiling baby in her arms.

"Arizona, it's not the hard either. Now I'm going to tell your father about this and he's going to make a few calls. We'll be in touch tomorrow morning." She says firmly. "And let me know what you need for her and I'll send it right away."

* * *

"Arizona, what was that about?" Callie asks after the call ends.

Turning to look at her girlfriend, Arizona lays Zara back in the crib and then reaches over for Callie's hand and leads her over to the couch. "It's a long story, but when we lived in Africa Mom worked with a relief agency. At the agency, she met a young mother with AIDS, she had a daughter who also had AIDS but was otherwise healthy. The woman begged my mother to take the girl, so that she would have a chance and as the woman got sicker, Mom decided to do it. She and my dad applied for temporary guardianship of Zara and they almost adopted her." The blonde says softly, tears falling silently down her face.

"Arizona what happened, why didn't they adopt her?" Callie asks pulling the blonde in close and kissing her head.

"Sh-she died. She fell off the truck on her way back to the relief agency. They brought her to the hospital at Camp Lemonnier, but it was too late." Arizona replies stoically. "That's why I decided to be a doctor. That's why I applied for the Carter-Madison grant."

"Well, now I understand your mother's reaction." Callie says wiping tears from her face. "Wow. What do you think your Dad's response will be?"

"Don't be surprised if they both show up on our doorstep in the next 48 hours." Arizona says, then adds, "I'm only half kidding."

* * *

"Let's go people." Arizona says as the group slowly files into the clinic triage area. "Here are your assignments." She says pointing to the board behind her. "I want you working in teams today, we don't know what will come through that door, but by now we all know each other's specialties and strengths. If you don't have a patient, then I expect you to be helping triage. Today's triage team will be tomorrow's field outreach team." She explains to the doctors and nurses.

"Okay, any questions?" She asks, looking over at Greg.

"Okay, outreach team it's time to load up." Greg says clapping his hands together and looking around at his people. "Don't forget the cooler this time!" He adds.

"Dr Robbins, we've already got a line of people outside, so we're going to open up the triage area. Are your people ready?" He asks.

Looking over at Callie, the blonde says, "Dr Torres?"

"Oh my people are totally ready." She says confidently. Then turning around to her team, she adds, "Let's do this."

Stepping back, Arizona is pleased with the progress that they've made organizing the teams and using team leaders. The new structure has made all the difference. Everyone is gaining confidence and the leadership team is really coming together, by the time she and Callie, leave Greg, James and Madison will have learned everything they need to know to train the next group. Hearing the phone ring in the office, Arizona dashes down the hall to get it.

"Dr Robbins." She says picking up the phone.

"Is this Arizona Robbins?" A voice asks with a Southern accent.

"Yes, and you are?" She replies.

"I'm Jason Morgan, your liaison from the American Embassy. I understand that you're adopting a baby in Malawi." He replies.

"Where did you get that information, Mr Morgan?" Arizona asks cautiously.

"I pulled your guardianship paperwork after receiving a message from my superior, who apparently knows your father." He explains. "Now are you planning to file adoption papers for the child?"

Pausing a moment and prepared to say no, Arizona is surprised to hear "Yes", come out instead.

"Okay, then I'll begin preparing your documents, can you meet me in Lilongwe to go over the paperwork?" He asks.

"Not today, but I could arrange it later in the week." Arizona suggests.

"Okay, let's plan on Thursday morning. And have anyone from her family visited or inquired about her there at the clinic?" he asks.

"No, they haven't." She replies. Then sinking down into her chair she begins writing down the information for the meeting. Hanging up the phone, she sits a minute in a daze. Then jumps up and goes down the hall to check on Zara.

"Hey little miss!" She says picking her up from the crib and glancing over to Mary, the woman who does all their administrative paperwork.

"Dr Robbins, she's such a quiet baby. I almost forget that she's here." Mary admits.

"Well, I'm glad that it's working out." Arizona says relieved. Daycare wasn't exactly something she had considered needing when she designed the clinic. She had only created the small nursery as an afterthought, since most of the babies that they'll treat here will be sick, she hadn't considered needing a place for healthy children at the clinic.

"Hey, I have time right now. I'll go ahead and feed her." Arizona offers.

"No fair." Callie says sticking her head in and seeing Arizona feeding Zara.

"I just had a phone call from the American Embassy. Apparently my father has gotten the ball rolling." Arizona informs her girlfriend.

"Okay, what does that mean?" Callie asks, afraid to guess.

"It means that they want to help us adopt Zara." Arizona replies. "Well, me; they don't allow same sex couples to adopt here and we really haven't had that conversation yet."

"We haven't, but you have to know that we're on the same page." Callie says moving towards her and kneeling down in front of the chair. "I'm in love with you and I can't imagine a life without you and if Zara is a part of that package, I'm all in. Either way, Arizona, I'm all in."

* * *

"Callie you can't go with us. Jason says it's too risky." Arizona says caressing her face and kissing her softly.

"I hate this. I feel so helpless." Callie says frustrated.

"I can only imagine. But we're almost done. We'll find out this week if they are going to accept me as an adoptive parent. Then we just need to find out if they will let me adopt Zara." She says lifting up the brunette's face.

"You need to get going. I'm fine. Just go, get this done so we can go home!" Callie says wiping her tears and putting on a smile.

* * *

"I understand. Thank you for trying." Callie is talking on the phone with Dr Martin from Doctors Without Borders. She's gotten one extension on her assignment, but they won't allow her to exceed six months on her visa.

Sinking down onto the bed, Callie collapses into tears. It's not fair. The whole thing hasn't been fair, pretending to not be involved with Arizona. Asking the others to lie for them or at the least omit the truth. Fortunately, their paperwork was done before they shared the same address, so on paper they are just colleagues at the same hospital.

"Callie? Callie what's wrong?" Arizona asks entering the room and finding her crying on the bed.

"They won't extend it again. I've got to return to Seattle next week." She says between tears.

"Okay, we knew that might happen. Let's just hope that we hear something before then." Arizona says kneeling down beside the bed to try to talk to her.

"What if the family won't agree to the adoption? I don't want you to go through that alone, I should be here." Callie says trying to catch her breath.

"Mom and Dad are here and Callie, that's not going to happen. If the family wanted her, they would have visited her by now. She's five months old. This is just a formality." Arizona reminds her.

Moving up on the bed, Arizona pulls the brunette into her arms. "It's going to work out Callie."

Sniffling, Callie takes a deep breath. "It has to." She says softly.


	34. Chapter 34

Callie had no choice but to leave Malawi without Arizona and Zara, her visa was up and the embassy was afraid to extend it as it may tip off the Malawi officials to the relationship between the two women. So with a heavy heart Callie boarded the plane for home. Arizona's parents saw her off at the airport, as they did not want to risk any public display with Arizona and Zara.

"It will be okay Callie. We'll let you know as soon as we get word. Just get home safe and set up the nursery. We sent everything to your apartment before we left the states." Barbara reminds her.

"Oh my god, I just can't believe this. I can't believe that I have to leave now, before everything is settled." She begins crying again.

"Calliope, now don't worry. We've got this and we'll bring the girls home before you know it. Now get on the plane and be safe." Daniel Robbins says gruffly, but pulling her in for a hug to soften his words.

Kissing and hugging both of Arizona's parents, Callie finally boards the plane.

* * *

Mark spots her as soon as she walks through the gate. "Callie!" He calls to her.

Turning her head, she spots him and weaves through the crowd to get to him. "Have you heard anything from Arizona?", she asks immediately.

"Uh, yeah. They are headed home in two days. I thought you knew?" He says hugging her.

"Oh my god, two days?" She repeats. "I can't believe it. We did it. We're bringing her home!" Callie says bouncing up and down.

"Callie what are you talking about?" I saw Lexie moving boxes into your place, but she wouldn't tell me why. Derek and Meredith are all excited for you both to be back and that's not normal. What the hell is going on and why am I out of the loop on it?" He asks offended.

"Let's go get my bags and I'll tell you everything. You won't believe what happened in Africa." She says taking his hand and pulling him across the concourse to baggage claim.

* * *

"Wait, you're saying that Arizona Robbins, the Arizona Robbins that I know, adopted a baby in Malawi?" Mark asks for the second time.

"Yes, Mark. It surprised me too. She didn't even talk to me about it. She just did it and Mark it needed to be done. The child wouldn't have a chance to live in Malawi. Hell, she wouldn't even be alive today if we hadn't been there that day." Callie says shivering at the thought.

"Well, I can't wait to see them. Did you get their flight info?" He asks.

"Not yet, they are flying into Hopkins first and having a specialist examine Zara to make sure there's nothing that we missed, since we didn't have the proper equipment to evaluate her fully." Callie explains.

"You should call Addison and fly out there to be with them." Mark suggests.

"Addie, oh my god. I totally forget to tell Addison." Callie says looking around for her phone.

* * *

"What the hell Calliope Torres?" Addison says loudly into the phone. "Tell me everything. Wait, I'm booking a flight now. You should fly here, then we'll take the same flight to Baltimore."

"Wait, Addison. Just wait a second. I don't know what's going on yet." Callie tries to reign her in.

"Oh don't worry, I'm emailing McCale at Hopkins now. He probably has the medical records." Addison informs her. "Do you have their flight information?"

"Uh, yeah. Let me look and I'll send it to you." Callie replies.

"Okay, here's the plan. You fly here tomorrow night, we stay at a hotel by the airport and then we fly out to Baltimore the next morning." Addison explains to her.

"Addie, we can't just fly out there. Let me contact Arizona first and make sure." Callie says trying again to get Addison under control.

"If you're not sure about meeting them in Baltimore, than I'm flying there. I know that Hopkins has a good neonatal team, but they don't have me. And I'm really good at what I do and Arizona knows that. I'm a little offended that she didn't call me once in the past six months." Addison says, the annoyance in her voice is palpable.

"Addie, we were scared, honestly, we were afraid that there was something wrong and we wouldn't be able to handle it with the little equipment that we had available. And believe me, we considered taking her to Paris, but she seemed so healthy, we decided to just focus on bringing her to the US. This stop at Hopkins surprises me, actually." Callie says trying to stay calm.

"Promise me that you'll contact Arizona and if there is any concern, and Callie I mean any, you contact me and we fly out there. I'm not going to stand by, when I could be helping your baby." Addison says firmly.

"Thank you Addison, you're the first person to call her that." Callie says tearing up.

* * *

Waking up to the buzzing of her phone, Callie immediately grabs it and answers it before she's even awake. "Arizona?" She says into the phone.

"Callie dear, it's Barbara. I'm sure you know by now that we're stopping in Baltimore to have Zara checked out. Arizona says it's nothing, but I'm not so sure. If there's any way you could meet us there, I think you should do it." She says softly.

"Ah, okay Mrs Robbins. What are her symptoms?" Callie asks shifting into doctor mode.

"Zara has had a runny nose and slight fever for a couple of days now, Arizona says it's probably just a cold, but I can tell that she is worried about it. Then she informs us that we're stopping at Hopkins to have a full work up done on Zara."

"Hmm, okay. That's not much to do on. Send me your Baltimore info and I'll meet you there." Callie says, grabbing her laptop off the floor and searching for plane tickets.

"Addison, wake up we're going to Baltimore." Callie says calling her friend a few hours later. "My flight lands at LAX at 7:30 pm, I've booked us a room at the Airport Hilton and our flight leaves the next morning at 6:45." Callie informs her.

"What's going on? What did you find out?" Addison asks suddenly wide awake.

"Arizona's mom called me. She says Zara has had a runny nose and slight fever since I left. Arizona seems worried but when they ask her about it, she says everything is fine, but then she scheduled the stop at Hopkins." Callie quickly outlines what she knows, "I've tried calling her, but she hasn't responded. Addison I don't want to know what you think it could be. I know it's serious, because this is classic Arizona behavior, she only does this when she's scared. But I want you there, because once you've examined her, I want to know everything."

"Okay, but Callie. It could just be a cold and Arizona is just exhibiting classic Dr Mom behavior." Addison replies.

* * *

"Norman? Addison Montgomery. I'm coming to Baltimore tomorrow for a consult and I want full privileges." She informs him.

"Addison, I- uh, what case are you consulting on, I don't have anything on your case." He says confused.

"I'm consulting on the Zara Robbins case." Addison replies.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were on that one. I just received the medical file and I'm about to review it with my team. Do you want to join us? I can call you from the conference room?" He offers.

"Yes, what time and can you send an electronic copy of the file to my office?" She asks.

"Certainly. And we're meeting at eleven, should I call your office?" He asks.

"Yes, call my direct line." She replies.

* * *

She didn't so much as ask for a few days off as she just informed Webber that she would be out of town until Monday. Then she went and found Derek and told him what was happening.

"Addison, talk to me. What do you know about the Robbins baby." Derek says as soon as his ex answers her phone.

"Why would you be interested?" She can't help but ask him.

"She called me when she decided to adopt the baby and I wrote a letter on her behalf. I've seen the baby and examined her via Skype Addison, so tell me what you know and should I be flying to Baltimore?" He says annoyed at her tone.

"Oh, I had no idea." Addison says taken aback, that Arizona would call Derek and not her.

"Well I just got off a conference call with Norman and he seems to think it may actually just be a cold, but since the baby was born premature and in Malawi, there's always the chance that it's something else. I will call you if there's even a hint of anything neuro." Addison promises him.

Hanging up with Addison, Derek turns around to see Meredith standing in the doorway. "We're going to Baltimore." She says firmly.

"I just got off the phone with Addison, she and Callie are meeting in LA and flying out together." He explains.

"I've already bought our tickets. We leave at 6 am, I'm heading to the house to pack." She says clearly.

"Meredith?" Derek asks before she can leave. "Why do you want to go to Baltimore?"

"Derek, that baby shouldn't even be alive. Arizona called us first. She trusts us and just because she didn't call us this time, doesn't mean we're not going. We're going, Zara is a miracle and we need those around here." Meredith replies simply.

* * *

Landing in Baltimore, Callie and Addison quickly grab a cab to the hospital, stash their bags in the Doctor's lounge and Addison changes into scrubs. "Callie, you're not here as a doctor. No scrubs for you." Addison says swiping them away from her.

"But Addison!" She protests.

"Callie, your job here is to sit with Arizona's parents and help them understand what's going on. I'll send someone out to keep you informed, but you'll need to translate for them." Addison says preparing her.

As they walk out into the hall, they run into Meredith and Derek. "Meredith? Derek?" Callie says surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"We've been in this since Zara was born. Arizona called us and Derek did a neuro exam over Skype a few months ago, then we both wrote letters on her behalf when she applied to adopt. You guys are not going through this alone. This baby is a miracle and we need miracles in Seattle." Meredith replies.

"What she said." Derek says smiling and moving over to wrap an arm around Callie.

"Are they here? Have you seen them?" He asks.

"No, they're not here yet. We were going to wait at the airport, but decided to just wait here instead." Callie replies.

Moving to Callie's other side, Meredith reaches over and squeezes her hand. "If this were my baby, these are the doctors that I'd want and the hospital that I'd want to be at." Meredith says leaning over towards the brunette.


	35. Chapter 35 - The end

"Arizona, this is good news." Callie repeats.

"I know, but what if..." Arizona begins to ask again.

"Stop. Arizona stop. We can take her home, now." Callie says excitedly.

Unsure what else to do. Arizona is frozen to the chair. Addison, Derek and Norman have all examined Zara and run every test available. She's a normal premature baby at 6 months old. Looking up, Callie sees Arizona's parents at the door, so she stands up and goes over to them.

"Let us try Callie." Barbara says gently, stepping into the room, she goes to her daughter.

"Arizona?" Barbara says sitting down beside her daughter. "Honey, I know that you're scared. But Zara is healthy. You can take her home now."

"Mom, I just didn't plan this far ahead." Arizona says softly. "I couldn't let myself think that this would actually happen. I've spent the last six months hoping that she would live, but also terrified that she wouldn't. Now that I know, really know that she's okay, I'm even more terrified to lose her." The blonde says breaking down.

Taking her daughter into her arms, Barbara realizes now that her daughter is a mother. "Arizona, what you're experiencing is normal, unfortunately every parent feels this way when their baby is born." She says soothingly, "Making a decision to have a child, is to forever decide to have your hear go walking outside of your body."

Laughing, the blonde pulls back. "You've said that quote forever, but this is the first time I really know what it means." Arizona confesses.

"Now let's see about getting you girls home." Daniel says reaching over to rest an arm on his wife and daughter.

* * *

Sitting on the plane between Callie and her Mom with Zara on her lap, Arizona can't help but feel enormous love. It's not something that she's entirely comfortable with yet, even though she's always been a happy person, this is totally different. Looking over at her Dad sitting with Meredith and Derek, she can't help but smile at the thought of them flying to Baltimore just to make sure Zara was okay. It's insane, but now she understands how much they want to have a baby, so it makes sense. Derek told her that they would adopt Zara if there was any chance that Arizona wouldn't get approved.

Taking a deep breath, Arizona starts to doze off, so Callie takes Zara and pulls the blonde over so she can rest her head on her shoulder. Callie's never been so happy as she is today. Glancing over at Meredith and Derek, she can't believe how much her life has changed since she first met Meredith Grey.

Daniel wakes up and immediately notices that Zara is just across the aisle in Callie's arms, so he reaches over and touches Callie's shoulder. "Callie," he says nudging her. "Let me take her." He says turning in his seat.

Not realizing that she had almost dozed off, Callie passes the baby to Daniel, which totally delights Meredith and Derek. Callie watches the three adults with the baby and smiles. Feeling Arizona stir beside her, Callie reaches down and takes her hand, then points across the row so the blonde can see.

"My god, Arizona. We have a baby." Callie says softly, kissing the blonde's head.

* * *

"I told Mark and Karev to have the crib set up," Callie says as they walk across the concourse, then she stops. Reaching out she makes them all stop.

There's a huge banner that reads, "Welcome Home Zara!" and holding it up are their friends from the hospital.

"Oh my god!" Arizona says loudly, "Callie did you do this?" She asks, then looking over at Meredith, she shakes her head.

"We didn't figure you'd want us all in your apartment and we wanted to see the baby, so here we are." Bailey says pushing her way forward and reaching for the baby.

Arizona laughs and lets her take her. "Just you Bailey, I don't know if I trust anyone else right now." Arizona teases.

"I'm next", Mark Sloan says stepping forward.

"You want to hold her Mark?" Arizona asks looking up at him questioningly.

"Yeah, I want to hold her. She's a freaking miracle and who knows it may rub off on me." He says smiling as he takes her from Bailey. Then holding her up so he can look at her he says, "Hey Zara, I'm your Uncle Mark. I'm going to be your favorite Uncle, let's just get that right out there." He adds looking around.

In the distance, Callie sees Natalie watching the whole scene, and the brunette quickly looks around for any signs of a camera crew. There are none, so she motions for her to come over.

"Hey, I just wanted to welcome you all back." She says moving in to hug Callie and then tapping Arizona on the shoulder and hugging her as well.

"Natalie, what a surprise! How did you know about this?" Arizona asks surprised to see her.

"I made some friends at the hospital and I've kept tabs on you both. I just wanted to see for myself that everything is okay." She explains.

"Everything is awesome." Arizona replies smiling.

* * *

**A/N: I'm ending this story here. I already took way past where it started. I may write a sequel, which will make three that I've said that about. I'm going to continue writing, but it's going to be difficult to maintain a story and update it. Thank you so much to those who've read and commented on my stories, you've all (Mostly) been awesome and amazing. I have written a book and am in the editing process, which means I'm two steps away from rewriting it completely. But I'm sure I can't stay away, you all make writing so much fun.**


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